Loving God of the new day, shine brightly on the needs and life of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
I remember well having to "swear to God and cross my heart!" as a child and youth. Even then I had my doubts that my friends or classmates truly believed me. I can't for the life of me remember what it was we were even talking about. Yet, it seems to be a carryover from a LONG time ago if Jesus had to address it. Here are His words:
33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let your word be "Yes, Yes' or "No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
As you can see, Jesus refers to this practice being from "ancient times," so you know we humans have had a credibility problem from way back. Can we say it's in our nature? What a nature we have then! Jesus says that this is not a good practice neither is that of involving God in our daily dealings where we should be men and women of our word. Jesus had heard them all: I swear by heaven! I swear by the earth! I swear by Jerusalem, the Holy City! I swear by my head! I swear on my mother's grave! And on and on. Jesus says, if you mean yes, say yes. If you mean no, say no. If you take it beyond you're inviting Satan to have a part in what should be a truthful transaction.
What will you say today to be believed? How about yes when you mean yes, and no when you mean no?
PRAYER: Loving God, I confess that many have been the times when I wanted to be believed that I involved the sacred when I know I had no business. Let me today be as Christ said, that I should be a person of my word and say what I mean. Let me be a person of the truth. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
