Good promises and good performances

Good promises and good performances 

At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Nehemiah 5:13

🙏🏻The rich Jews made a promise to Nehemiah.
😇They made the promise with a cheerful heart.

“This cheerfulness in promising was well, but that which follows was better: They did according to this promise, and adhered to what they had done*.”

Good promises are good things, but good performances are all in all.

-Matthew Henry

Going back on a promise

Matthew Henry quotes an incident from Jeremiah where the Jews had failed to keep a promise they had made.

🤗King Zedekiah proclaimed emancipation for the Hebrew slaves in Judah.

⛓Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage.

Jeremiah 34:9⛓

🙏🏻The people and the officials enter into this covenant and release the slaves.

❓ What happened next?

🤔But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

Jeremiah 34:11 🤔

🙁How terrible the slaves would have felt!

😢To gain their freedom and lose it so quickly!

🤴 In the case of Nehemiah, there was no king.
😇But the people stayed true to the promise they made. 

Application

Promises should never be made lightly. That's why the Bible says, "When a man makes a vow to the LORD ... he must not break his word but must do everything he said" (Numbers 30:2)

💔 Breaking a promise means breaking a person’s heart. 
💔 The Hebrews would have felt heartbroken to be enslaved again!

😇It may be a simple request.
🍪Making a snack your child requested.

But when we don’t live up to the promise we have made, we break a person’s heart and the trust we have earned! 

May we put in a little extra to keep the promises that we have made! 

🙏🏻 Prayer

Thank you, heavenly Father, for always keeping your promises. Help us to keep our word so that we can be faithful like you and people can count on us.  In Jesus, Amen.