Excuses! Excuses!

I was thinking about how we often make excuses for why we can't do something or why we decided we don't want to do this or that anymore. Why is that we can't say a plain 'yes' or 'no'? Or say 'Yes' or 'No' and then go into a long detailed answer? What about you? Do you make a commitment to do something and then make an excuse at the last minute to get out of it? (I am not talking about valid excuses like I am sick & in the hospital, broke my leg, etc. but the lame or not so truthful excuses).

In both the Old Testament and the New Testament we read about keeping an oath. In Num 30:2, it says, "When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said." And then in Matthew 5:34-37, we read, "34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

These specific scriptures are talking about keeping an oath. An oath, according to Merriam-Webster, is "to witness that one sincerely intends to do what one says". We should not swear to do this or that. If we do swear to do something, then Matthew is saying that we sin. When I think on this, I think about how if I say that I am going to do something and then I don't do it, then I am really lying to myself and to God about the real truth behind that statement. For example, I say to my friend that I will go to a concert with her when in reality, I don't want to go. I am not telling her the truth....I really don't want to go. Do I need to give her a reason? Not necessarily. Matthew is saying, rather than make an oath about something (swear that we WILL be there), we should simply say, "Yes" or "No". Many times in my life, I have made excuses for why I didn't want to go do this thing or that thing. When I read these scriptures and thought about all the 'excuses' that I have given for doing or not doing something, I realized that I was not being truthful about my real intentions. However, I have found that once I do what I promised, I usually receive a blessing from that event or person that I was with. Think about your answers to people..be truthful and give them a yes or no. Once you do make a commitment to them, do it. You will find that you will be blessed in keeping your commitment and may even be blessed by the event you decided to attend!