I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 12th of September, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Ecclesiastes 5:4: 

"When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—
Better not to vow than to vow and not pay."

I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word "vow". A vow is a solemn promise. Now we go straight to the Book of Judges, and I want to say to you my dear friend, this is possibly the saddest story in the Old Testament. Judges 11:30-31: 

"And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

Now, what happened was he was a mighty warrior and was defending Israel. He made a deal with the Lord. He said, "Lord, if you give me the victory, the first thing that comes out of my house, I will offer up to You as a sacrifice." When he returned, the Lord had given him the victory. The first thing that came out of his house was his little daughter, his only child. He was devastated. He said to her, "You have broken me." She said, "Father, if you have made a vow to God you need to keep it. Give me two months to wander the mountains with my friends and then you can take the action you promised God." And he did.

Never make a light vow to God. If you promise God something, you have to keep it. A couple of years ago, I was going through a terrible drought, one of the worst droughts on this farm. The maize crop was failing. It was our main source of income. I went out and said, "Lord, if you turn the weather around and give me a decent crop, I will preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the rest of my life." Well, He gave me a decent crop and I am busy fulfilling my vow, not reluctantly, with great joy and great pleasure.

Today, count the cost before you make the vow.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.