A Promise Is a Promise

In our Thai language class last week, our lesson was about renting and living in a house. Our vocabulary included words such as bâan (house), chán (floor), sanǎam (yard), and sǎnyaa (contract). As we asked questions to clarify meanings, our teacher told us that sǎnyaa, the Thai word for contract, also means promise. At first I thought, "That makes sense. A contract is a kind of promise." And then, I began thinking about the reality of contracts and promises in life. Too often, it seems, contracts, whether they are rental agreements, business deals, or marriage vows are easily broken. The more I thought, I couldn't help but wonder, "What contracts/promises have I failed to keep?" Perhaps having two separate words in English (i.e. contract and promise) makes is easier to break certain pledges. After all, it's much less unpleasant to simply say, "I terminated the contract," than to humbly admit, "I broke my promise."

Our family has recently been reading through the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Several evenings ago we were talking about Genesis 28. Specifically we looked at how the Lord spoke to Jacob and promised to fulfill what He had originally promised to Jacob's grandfather, Abraham, concerning Abraham's descendants and the LORD'S blessing on them. The contrast in character here is striking. Jacob the deceiver, who has, with his mother's help, just masterfully tricked his father and brother is now being graciously spoken to by and brought into a relationship with the Almighty, Truth-Telling, Promise-Keeping God. Isn't it refreshing to know that when Jacob turned out to be the swindler that he was, the LORD didn't balk on His original promise. How reassuring the reality that when Abraham lied about the identity of his bride to save his own skin, Yahweh stayed true to His Word! What a humbling certainty that when we fail to live with integrity, our Father still graciously accepts us and sees us covered in the precious blood of His Son! Of course, this reality should not encourage us to live as liars. Scripture is clear that God's grace does not equal a license to sin (see Romans 6). However, even when we do lie, cheat and break our promises, we live securely "in the hope [confidence] of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago" (Titus 1:2). Now that's an awesome promise!















A float at the recent Chiang Mai Flower Festival