[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during September 2021]
A reference came to me whilst I was starting to think about this reflection; it was not the words of a verse, just its reference. It’s not a verse that I could recite from memory so I had to look it up.
They went to the chief priests and the elders. They said, “We have made a special promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul”. [Acts ch23 v14 NIRV]
At first sight that does not appear to be a great start for a reflection that is intended to encourage and challenge us. So let us unpack it a bit.
Paul we know but who are the “they/we”? The text tells us that they were ‘more than 40 Jews’ who were offended, even outraged, by Paul’s arguments that Jesus was the messiah. Writers familiar with the society of that time have suggested that New Testament references to ‘the Jews’ meant men who were part of an intellectual elite that administered the synagogues and sought to uphold centuries of Jewish tradition. Are we so committed to maintaining our traditions and the way things have ‘always’ been done that we run the risk of killing off any new initiative?
They made a ‘special promise’ to God to kill Paul. Paul did not die as a result of their threat and I suspect that none of the conspirators starved to death but what does that teach us about making rash promises? Are we tempted to make promises to God? Prayers which sound too much like “If you fix this then I’ll do that” are usually just attempts to influence the course of events. How often the second part of the promise gets forgotten once the immediate situation has passed.
Of course, there are some promises that we can bank on – literally. You probably have one in your purse or wallet now: “I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of …” The signature on a nation’s banknotes is that of an individual – I have actually met one of them – but it comes with the authority and the resources of the respective country. We trade goods or effort on the basis of our confidence in that promise.
What happens when we lose confidence in the ability of the state to fulfil its promise? It is said that in 1920s Germany a worker would require a wheelbarrow to carry his day’s wages, and that by the time he got home the wheelbarrow would be worth more than the cash.
What about the promises that God makes? Do we have confidence that he will deliver on his promises? Unlike us, God is entitled to make conditional promises. Here are three examples for you to explore:
“If you repent, …” Jeremiah 15 v19
“If my people …” 2 Chronicles 7 v14
“If you love me …” John 14 v15
Whole books have been written on the subject of God’s promises but should we be content with third-party experiences? We need to claim God’s promises for ourselves and then our confidence will grow as we see God’s promises being worked out in our own lives.
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. [Deuteronomy 31 v8 NIVUK]
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
