“I’ll do it! I promise!”
Sure, I’ve heard that one before.
How many times have you spoken and thought these words? Spouses say this to each other. Kids say this to their parents. Parents say the same thing to their children. (Don’t even get me started on politicians’ promises). Our words are not binding, but by definition, they should be. A promise should never be broken; that’s the nature of a promise—something that is a guarantee as surely as it is spoken 100 percent of the time.
But let’s be honest: Have the promises you’ve given and received always been fulfilled? Of course not. Even if our hearts are in the right place, we fail to make good on our promises. And to an even greater extent we notice and are hurt by unfulfilled promises made to us. That’s part of the human experience. No matter how good our intentions are, and no matter how many promises we do keep, our sin nature guarantees failure to perfectly keep every one of our promises.
What a blessing it is to serve a God who does keep His promises—every last one!
Keeping His Covenants
Because you’ve been burned by broken promises before, you might struggle to imagine someone who would never fail to carry out his word. But God does exactly that. He has given us powerful examples in His Word as proof.
All the way back to the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, God promised that their Descendant would be bruised by the serpent but that He would crush his head in return. Jesus did this when He came to Earth, born in human flesh, and conquered Satan by dying for mankind’s sins and resurrecting from the dead.
To Noah He promised He would never flood the earth again, placing the rainbow in the sky as a symbol of this covenant. He has kept this promise for thousands of years, and we see the proof when we see a rainbow in the sky after the rain today.
What a blessing it is to serve a God who does keep His promises—every last one!
He has kept His covenant with Abraham—to bless him and to give him land and descendants. We see this in the favor God gave Abraham throughout his life, the Jewish people that continue to exist 4,000 years later, and their placement back in their homeland of Israel.
In His covenant with David He promised David’s house, kingdom, and throne would extend. Jesus Himself fulfilled this covenant as David’s descendant, the Messiah, who will reign forever over an everlasting Kingdom.
Our Promises Reveal Our Character
If only we would be as faithful in our promises! But we break them every day:
If you ever told your parents, “I’ll clean my room now,” but put it off to have fun, that’s a broken promise.
If you ever told your kids, “If you finish your homework, I’ll buy you whatever you want,” but didn’t follow through, that’s a broken promise.
If you ever told your spouse, “I’ll take care of that,” but forgot to do what you said, that’s a broken promise.
It’s not easy! Whether big or small, keeping promises is essential. It defines us in part. It’s an absolute, just like sin. If we sin once, we are sinners. If we can’t keep our word fully, we prove ourselves untrustworthy. But God has never failed—not once, not even on a little promise. The certainty this truth gives us as His children and His followers helps us rest in His perfect peace, knowing He is our constant, our anchor when everything else changes.
God’s spotless track record puts us at ease for the future, knowing He will continue to hold true to all that He says He will do. We who have put our faith in Him eagerly look forward to the day He will fulfill His promise to return and take us to be with Him (John 14:3). Though we should always strive to keep our word, we’ll never fully succeed. That’s why we are blessed most of all to walk with and trust the One who will never fail nor break His promises.
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what a blessing and we know he is coming soon.