promises kept
In the 2013 film Man of Steel, young Clark Kent used his super-human strength to save a busload of fellow students from drowning in a river. Clark’s father, who believed the world wasn’t prepared to accept his supernatural son, urged Clark to keep his great strength a secret. He explained to him, “When the world finds out what you can do, it’s going to change everything—our beliefs, our notions of what it means to be human—everything!”
unaffected
Not all influence is the same. A piece of coal and a diamond vastly differ in their make-up and value, though both contain carbon. Coal’s stubborn, black residue marks anything it touches. A diamond, though stronger and more costly, doesn’t transfer its brilliance. Carry a bag of coal or a bag of diamonds, and the lesson is visible—only one influences by proximity.
worth the wait
Everybody is waiting for something. What are you waiting for—employment, marriage, family peace? Imagine having to wait centuries for the fulfillment of a promise, but there was no evidence that it would be fulfilled. This was the spiritual and emotional climate during the time Jesus was born. People were waiting for God to fulfill the promise of restoration through the Messiah, but the political, social, and spiritual darkness concealed any evidence that God would keep His promise. Many people became weary of being righteous. Yet, there was a man who continued to wait and trust in God’s promise (Luke 2:25).
my word is my promise
As an author, I’ve signed a few contracts. I’ve asked others to sign them too. What I dislike most about contracts is their endless clauses, spelled out in detailed legal jargon. It’s a litigious age. We’ve all heard of opportunistic folks, with well-paid lawyers, who find legal loopholes in such documents and cash in. So our contracts get longer and longer.
promises, promises
I was once dragged into a highly charged discussion about the failure of certain politicians to keep their campaign promises. The discussion veered into a theological one when someone simply asked: “How many promises did God make in the Bible?” For many years, it was believed that there were 30,000 promises in God’s Word—that every verse is a promise. In…
promises and praise
Ever made a promise you didn’t keep? Yeah, me too. It makes me wince to think of my broken promises over the years. The shame comes from the realization that I had given my word to do something for someone and then backpedaled upon further review of what my vow would require of me. Ouch.
We’re all guilty of being…
he who hesitates
In 2005, amid the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the US, a leading politician summed up the response to the disaster with these words: “One of the problems that we’re facing at the federal level and at the state level and at the local level is a total system-wide failure, because people making decisions hesitated.”
This was a clear…
why break the pencil?
I was listening to a radio call-in program that was discussing the making and breaking of promises. One presenter summed up the consensus when he said, “Most of us break promises as often as we break pencils. That’s just the way of life, and it’s what people expect today.”
King David didn’t see it that way. In 2 Samuel 9…
