We are very quick to make promises to people. If a friend asks us to dinner, we say Yes only to later decide that we are too tired to go. If we told someone that we will call them, we neglect to do so. As human beings, we are quick to make promises that we don’t always keep. The Bible encourages us to think very carefully about the words we say. We must keep our oaths (promises) even if it is painful for us to do so (Psalm 15:4). Don’t make promises which you cannot keep. Don’t say Yes to something which you do not intend to do. As Jesus himself said, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37).
1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this,