Cling to God

Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them.  You must not serve them or bow down to them. ~ Joshua 23:7

I was listening to an old sermon entitled, “How to Stop the Pain.”  In it, Pastor Alex said that when we’re hurt by events in our lives, sometimes we will make a vow that we won’t do those things or live that way, etc.  He said that when we make these vows, it’s because we’ve judged something and the very things we thought we were swearing against seem to follow us throughout our lives, but they are worse for us than for those we judged.  For example, if your parents got divorced and you saw the pain it caused in your family, you may have vowed that you were never going to live like that.  Except that in your life, things are much worse.    Jesus said that we are not to swear or make vows, not “by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool,” (Matthew 5:34).  The Bible also says that if we swear, “by heaven or by anything else…you will be condemned,” (James 5:12).  These seem to be very harsh words, but when we swear, or make an oath, or take a vow, we are binding ourselves to these things.  The word “condemned” is from the Greek word krisis (which is where we get our word “crisis”), means “separation,” (blueletterbible.org).

God said that instead of binding ourselves to foreign things—things that are not of Him—we are, instead, to “hold fast to the Lord your God,” (Joshua 23:8).  In our most desperate hour, we tend to shut everything and everyone out.  We make vows which we think will protect us, but really cause us more pain and anguish.  God wants you to cling to Him, bind your fate to Him.  He promises that if you do, He will continue to fight for you and move the things that would attack you out of your path.  If you’ve been hurt and made a vow of any kind, it’s not too late for you.  God simply asks that you release the person or thing you’ve judged.  Let it go.  Ask God to forgive them and to forgive you.  What He wants most in the world is to not have anything separating you from Him.  Lay down those things and draw near to Him today.

Every promise [God gave] has been fulfilled; not one has failed. ~ Joshua 23:14