2 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
Your vow to God is the bond of your soul. God does not take vows lightly. Your vows to God are as His covenant before Him. Just as God will not break His covenant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of His lips, so does He expect you never to break your vow. Hear what the Lord said to His people in the opening verse. He said, if a man makes a vow unto the Lord, or swears an oath to bind his soul, he must not break his word, and must do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. That is serious, isn’t it? That’s how binding our vows are on us, and how serious they are before God. Therefore, it is wise to be thoughtful and meditative in making a vow to God. A vow does not only commit you; it commits God also. God always goes on to fulfill His part so you can fulfill yours. You expect God to fulfill His part, and He expects you to fulfill yours too. So, it is important that you are thoughtful and meditative, and have a resolve in your heart before you make a vow. Ecclesiastes 5:1 says, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.” The sacrifice of fools is a rash commitment made to God; it is unfounded in the heart and lacks real resolve. You must not make such vows to God. Verse 2 of Ecclesiastes 5 tells us, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore, let thy words be few.” In other words, make sure your vow is founded on a very firm resolve to keep it.
To make a vow and not fulfill it is to belittle yourself before God. People who don’t keep their words don’t mean much to the society, do they? They are taken for comedians of the highest level of levity. An unpaid vow sets imbalance in your life. God will call for His vow. Now that God has done His part, you must be thoughtful and meditative enough to pay your vow. When you pay your vow, you finish that contract, but if you do not pay it, the contract is still open, and God will demand that you pay your vow. A vow is powerful, and it must be performed.
MY SOLID FRONT (YOUR CONFESSION) Thank You Heavenly Father for the power of vows; I declare in the Name of Jesus Christ, that the vows I make to the Lord are meditatively and not rashly made. I am careful to fulfil my vows to the Lord, therefore I enjoy the full benefits of my vows. Amen.
Further Meditation: Ecclesiastes 5:5, Judges 11:30-39.