Prov 7:14 [ESV] I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows’
There are some inner vows that I think can be healthy. From the age of sixteen I drove motorbikes, and over the next twenty plus years I had a fair share of spills and pain. At the age of forty-two I was married and had a young family. I had a BMW Motorbike in the garage, that I would take out on summer days and nights to have fun on the long winding roads of Nort West Scotland.
But, time after time I would read about people who died on their motorbikes, mostly they were on holidays in my area. Several times they were hit early morning by a car on the wrong side of the road. And this was common for people from Europe, where they drive on the other side of the road. They would get up and leave their guest house of hotel I=onto quiet roads, and at some point the would revert to Europe and be on the wrong side of the road, for an unsuspecting motorbike hurtling around a bend.
So, I sensed God’s whisper, that I’d had a great season of thrills and spills, but maybe now it should cease. So, after prayer and chatting to Wend, I made a vow to myself before God, that I was finished with motorbikes, and unless it was a matter of life and death, I would not at any time get back on one. It was a good vow for me.
KNOWLEDGE
Vows are powerful decisions. Inner vows, when we commit to a certain course of action – such as “I will never let people hurt me again” seem right at the time. But inner vows can be very dangerous and cause untold pain in our lives and the lives around us. We make some inner vows to comfort ourselves. Almost every person has made them. One of the most dangerous dynamics of inner vows is that within any area where an unhealthy inner vow is operating, the person is typically unteachable and irrational. Inner vows are promises of pain for the future.
Solution – acknowledge them, renounce them, & become accountable for change.
UNDERSTANDING – Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word for “vows” in Hebrew is pronounced as “neder” and appears sixty times in the Old Testament, every time it is translated as “vows”. Easton’s Bible Dictionary tells us that this word carried the meaning of “voluntary promises which, when once made, were to be kept if the thing vowed was right. They were made under a great variety of circumstances.”
The LXX has ευχάς [euchas] for “vows” and we find this Greek word in the New Testament three times – εὐχή [euche] – prayer vow – a prayer that comprises a vow. In Acts 18:18 [ESV] After this, Pauls stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow (εὐχή).
WISDOM – let’s pray for discernment at the time that it is most needed.
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Communication as a Strength or Talent allows us the ability to tell a story, to bring others inside that story, and to help people see things our way. How important then that our heart and mind are fully connected to God’s word and His Holy Spirit.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – I made a fellowship offering today, and a sacrifice, and on this day I have completed and am at peace with my voluntary promises.
I had to offer – I made a fellowship offering
sacrifices – a sacrifice
and today – and on this day
I have paid – I have completed and am at peace with
my vows – my voluntary promises
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to recognise those that seem to be speaking truth and love, but will lead me astray if I follow their ways.
To chat to me as a professional coach/mentor – allan@theallankey.com
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