Jesse Tree, Day 3 – A God of His Word

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?  Num. 23:19, NIV

Read: Genesis 6: 5-8

What does it mean to make a promise and keep it? When you promise to do something, do you do it? Do you keep your word?

Let me just admit that earlier in life, I was way too cavalier with my words. A good friend once schooled me about the value and importance of keeping our word.  She made a simple request of me while I was visiting my homeland, of Trinidad and Tobago, and in a flippant moment, I promised  that I would do it once I got back to the US. 

Well, I bet you know how that story went. Once I returned to the normal pace of my life, I completely forgot all about it. For more months than I am ashamed to admit, my friend waited eagerly for a package that did not come. Eventually, when I called her one day she said to me simply:

Kathy, don’t make promises that you are not prepared to keep. For you it might be a little thing, but for the other person it might be everything.

It was a good lesson to learn, and it is one that I have not forgotten.

In the story of Noah and the flood, I am once again in awe of the Creator God, as the lyrics from the well-known song by Maverick City describes Him, as A Man of His Word.

To recap our journey from two days ago, here are the crib notes: 

• God created a perfect world for us to enjoy.
• The first humans messed it up, Big time! They disobeyed His ONE request and that one act put us all on the path of death and destruction
• Evil was everywhere, but one man, Noah, and his family were faithful to God.
• The full consequences of sin–death–threatened to wipe out all of humankind.

But God acts to preserve life by giving everyone a choice. Enter the ark and be safe or stay out and die in a flood. Seemed like a simple enough choice, right? And yet, only Noah and his family make the wise choice and survive. It is from Noah’s descendants: Shem, Ham and Japheth that the genealogy continues.

Even in the midst of brokenness, God provides a new start with a promise. He promises never  to destroy the earth with a a flood again. And He footnotes his promise with the sign of a rainbow.

And if there is one thing we can be sure about it is this: when God promises something, He is a God of His word.

REFLECT: Are you a person of your word? How can we honor God in our approach to promise keeping?