Today’s Devotion
Topic: The Sanctity Of Vows
Text: 1 Sam 26- 28
26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there. Amen
Hannah couldn’t bear Peninnah’s ridicule anymore. She gets up from the dinning area and heads straight into the temple where she prays out of deep anguish and sorrow. She so prayed from her heart that Eli the high priest thought she was drunk and “making mockery of prayer”. But she was a woman of deep anguish who was simply pouring her soul to God.
She makes a vow that day, saying; “.. O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” (1 Sam 1:11).
In the course of time, when she had a son, she named Him Samuel, saying ” because I asked the Lord for him. Kindly note that Bible never specified the period between Hannah’s prayer for a son and the period when Samuel was actually conceived . It may have taken a while you know. Yet Hannah still saw the miracle of having Samuel as a direct result of her the prayer she made to God during that particular visit to Shiloh.
When Samuel was fully weaned, Hannah did not relent. She didn’t let anyone remind her of the vow. She did not make logical deductions to undermine the God who has heard her cry and blessed her with a boy. To Hannah, her son is a result of the prayer made at Shiloh so she must honor the vow that accompanied that prayer, Period!
She took the boy, just as she promised she would; added a few more gifts (that were not even part of her vow), and presented him to Eli.
Of course Eli didn’t have a clue of her vow. So she reminded him saying, “I AM THE WOMAN WHO STOOD HERE BESIDE YOU PRAYING TO THE LORD. I PRAYED FOR A CHILD, AND THE LORD HAS GRANTED ME WHAT I ASKED OF HIM. SO NOW I GIVE HIM TO THE LORD. FOR HIS WHOLE LIFE HE WILL BE GIVEN OVER TO THE LORD”.
Beloved, how honourably do we honor the vows we make to God when we are in distress? Do we run to God with the same zeal, discipline and determination as Hannah did? Or are you full of excuse and unacceptable delays? For the many things God goes out of His way to do for us, does He not even deserve more than we could ever offer in a vow?
Think about this. Ecclesiastes 5: 4- 6 says, “when you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?”
Meditate on this word and begin to pray. The many excuses we give just to cover our inability to honor sacred vows are not pleasurable to God any more. Make up your mind to honor your christian, civil, social, moral, financial and marital vows so that God can bless you even more. For God has no pleasure in fools: fulfil your vow now!
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