BELIEVERS’ PROMISE
II Peter 3:9
Human life is limited, we often fail to reach our standard as a normal human
being. One is considered to have reached that standard once one can live in the right path
day by day. Apparently this normal standard is hard to obtain. Actually the standard set
by Jesus for believers is above the normal standard. That means Christians have to be
better than lay people. In the midst of failures, one factor that hinders man from reaching
this standard is his inability to keep his promises. We often disappoint others because we
break our promise. People no longer trust us because of it.
We hear of „false promises? quite frequently. Promise becomes mere promise.
There is an Indonesian phrase, “boneless tongue”, used in a saying like this: “Indeed the
tongue is boneless, not bound by words. A thousand promises is the height of a mountain,
yet different it is at the lips and in the heart.” This saying talks about the failure of
keeping promises. There?s another Indonesian proverb: “Doves never breaks a promise”.
I don?t know why that is. Today let?s learn three things that are important about promise,
especially our promise to God.
1. We must remember our promise
To say a promise is very easy. We call it empty promise. Such promises are
Everywhere; almost everyday we hear such promises on television from commercials
regarding their products. In the world of politics there are also many promises. Amongst
youngsters, especially among dating couples, there are many promises. But often times
promises are broken. In his daily devotionals, “Sinar Harapan”, Eka Darmaputra puts this
nicely: “When a promise becomes trash”, which means that the promise is now
meaningless.
It?s tragic that today people do not take promises seriously, as if breaking promise
was normal. For God, a promise is taken seriously, in II Peter 3:9 (NIV): “The Lord is not
slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Why is God so serious
with His promises? Is it because God?s word is indeed a serious matter? Peter wants to
explain to us that God never take promises lightly. Neither does the Lord break promise.
It is us, humans who break our promise all the time.
Remember that Lord?s promise to us is like a contract, involving both parties.
Privilege and duty can also be found in it. God promises to bless us, nourish us and our
duties are to be loyal and obedient to Him. But what man does is taking advantage of the
privileges that God gave while never evaluating his own life. When a promise is made,
consistency of the one who vowed is needed. If we are not consistent in keeping our
promise, and try to break them, then the value of that promise becomes weak or even
nonexistent. Promise is made together voluntarily to be bind us. Solomon in his praises
said: “"Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he
promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant
Moses.” (I Kings 8:56, NIV).
God never forces His will to us, so we should not force our will to Him either.
When we force what we want to God, we interfere with God?s plan. In other words, we
have to be sure that God?s promise for us is good. But we often have our own plans that
we think are „good?. On one hand, we know that God is omniscient and omnipotent, yet
we still insist to God with our plans which might interfere with His plans. Now let me ask
you, have you promised God something? Do you still remember that promise? Or do you
only remember God?s promise to you?
In his speech a few months before reelection, Bush promised illegal immigrants in
America some leeway. This is the promise of a president, hopefully he remembers to
keep his promise. But since there were some forgeries of letters in Virginia, he postponed
and finally decided not to keep his promise. This is the promise of a president, who is
also human.
What is your promise to God? Maybe the easiest one to remember is our promise
to live better before God. After retreat, we probably had promised to serve Him. We were
determined to be loyal to Him. Or maybe we promised God to make peace with our
enemies? Perhaps we promised God to support God?s work financially. Do we still
remember those promises? Maybe we only remember, but nothing more than that? Or
have we completely forgotten?
2. We must keep our promise
Indeed, remembering a promise is important, but that is not enough. We must keep
that promise. This is the difference between man?s promise to another, and man?s
promise to God. We can lie or put up a persona in dealing with one another, but we
cannot do that with God. IF we look at the Bible, the Lord is so faithful in keeping His
promise, starting with Abraham, Jacob, Joseph all the way to David and Jesus. Along that
time, we can see continuity. The path down that timeline must be hard and complicated,
but He keeps His promise and plan till the end when Jesus was crucified, died and
resurrected. God keeps His promise till its fulfillment.
I am sure that we all have promises, and people will judge as well if we can keep
those promise us well. If that promise is to keep a secret, then we must keep that secret.
Problem often rises between friends as a consequence of not keeping a promise. “Please,
what I just told you is a secret; don?t tell anybody.” Then a few seconds later, that secret
is passed to someone else with the same warning: “Please, what I just told you is a secret;
don?t tell anybody.”
There are two famous figures in the Bible, David and Jonathan. Both have made a
promise. Look at I Samuel 20; David and Jonathan are best friends. Since near the end of
his reign Saul distanced himself away from God, God chose David to replace Saul
through Samuel. Saul was furious and he repeatedly tried to kill David. This part
describes how strong the friendship between David and Jonathan was. Even though
David?s enemy was Jonathan?s own father, they still maintained their friendship. Their
relationship and promise survived even through their descendants, where David treated
Jonathan?s son, Mephibosheth; he was a cripple, yet he was well respected in David?s
kingdom. I Samuel 20:42 (NIV): “Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have
sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD is
witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants
forever.'" Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.” “The king spared
Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD
between David and Jonathan son of Saul.” (II Kings 21:7, NIV).
If Jonathan and David were able to keep their promise despite everything that
happened, how about us? Let us focus more to God?s promise to us.
3. We must fulfill our promise
To fulfill a promise is central to Israeli faith, and so should it be to our faith. Why?
Because the „form? of relationship between God and His people is a covenant, a contract.
In the course of one?s life there must have been 1001 promises that have been made, from
the informal ones to the very formal ones which are notarized. Some of those promises
are made to ourselves while some are to others. If we were to look back to our past, then
we could see a very dirty trail of broken promises.
We promise to do this, to see that, to be here, to go there, but often times or
maybe even every single time, we manage to break our promise. Even worse, we don?t
even remember it. Live goes on as usual, as if we had never promised anything. Many
people say that promises are made to be broken. This concept is certainly not a Christian
one.
There are promises which hide in a certain work contract. The employer promises
the employee good salary and benefits. The employee promises the employer honesty and
diligence. But is that always the case? No forced labor? No pressure? Employers
everywhere overwork their employees. Employees on the other hand cheat whenever
possible. This is all because the agreement was broken. The agreement and promise were
made with other side intentions. In other words, nobody really meant what they promised.
Quite the contrary, they try to think of loopholes and ways to get around the promised
agreement. Employers try to pay as low as possible (“If you don?t like how much you
make, feel free to quit!). On the other hand employees slack off, stealing anything
whenever possible. (Thus the saying goes: “we get paid little here, but we get lots of
„other? benefits”).
Technically, there?s no other place where promises are made most other than in
court, where truth is sought for and justice is served. There the advocate promises the
defendant that he gets his rights. The prosecutor demands justice, the appropriate
punishment, and the proper rights for the victims. Then there is the judge, who in the
name of God will make the decisions. The witnesses are involved as well, and they all
want the same thing: the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Why is it then that we see injustice at court? The truth is falsified. Justice is up for
sale secretly or even publicly. The answer is: because the oaths and promises made had
been considered as formal gestures only. Who would say that oaths are kept when you
clearly see how rich, powerful people get “assumed not guilty”, while a criminal of „no
class? gets capital punishment even before getting to the police station.
The only sure promise comes from Lord Jesus. Man can deny, but our Lord Jesus
by His nature does not break His promise. How beautiful and sweet Jesus? promise is. He
will receive and forgive sinners. That?s the Promise greater than any other promise.
Self-Reflection:
1. Have you broken your promise? What do you feel when you break a promise? Do
you feel guilty or not? Have you tried to avoid breaking promises?
2. Indeed only Lord Jesus never breaks His promise, but that does not mean we are
free and safe to break our promises. True believers surely want to fulfill every
promise. Do you want that too?
