One of my students today asserted the premise that promises are only binding if circumstances remain static. My contention was his position made promises useless because circumstances are always changing. No one day is like another. As time passes we become different people. I look at my graduation pictures from high school and college and realize I am not that person anymore. I have become someone else. Therefore, I did not make the promises of the past. Another person made them before I was me.
Apparently most people do believe the espoused premise my student was advocating since 50% of marriages, began with promises, end in divorce. Circumstances changed. People file for bankruptcy indicating they can no longer pay obligations made. Circumstances change. Children make promises to their mother or father when their parents are on their death beds. Usually they are ignored because their parent is no longer alive. Circumstances change. Please do not misunderstand me I am not advocating one stay in a horrid, miserable relationship nor am I saying it is wrong not to pay when it becomes impossible to do so. I am wondering about the value of human promises.
What I do rejoice in is that God keeps His promises despite the changing of circumstances. However, because He knows the end from the beginning He can make the promises with full knowledge of what is coming. His promises are much more intelligent than ours. Therefore, when we read I John 1:9 that He is faithful to forgive all our sins if we confess to Him, it is a sure thing. It was a promise made in full faith while understanding all the circumstances to come.
Written by Roger Bothwell on January 23, 2014
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org