Good Intentions

This is Presidents Day, a Presidential election year,  and as we all know, lots of promises and good-sounding intentions abound. Remember the old saying , “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.  I know I’ve laid a few bricks on that highway.  Well meaning as they may be, without a follow-through, our intentions are merely fancy talk meant to impress others.  Some folks can see right through them, and for sure you know God will not be fooled.  It reminds me of a child who tells their parent that they thought about cleaning their room, doing the dishes or mowing the lawn.  Nice thoughts, but with no follow-through, they probably won’t impress most parents. In old testament days, and even when Jesus was on earth, many people made special vows to God. These binding agreements, called Nazarite vows, were voluntary individual acts intended to separate a person to God, sometimes for specific prayer requests.  They were made for a certain amount of time, and had specific requirements attached to them that had to be kept in order to be effective.  Good intentions would never get God’s attention, then or now.  “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.” Ecclesiastes 5:4-5.  You can read all about vows in Numbers 6:1-27.  While we are no longer under the strict law, God still wants to see us act on our intentions.  Don’t let him down. You know He will always hold up his end of the bargain.