Feb. 28, 2015 PROMISE

What is a promise? I asked my nine year old granddaughter Jenna that very question. She replied, “It’s when you say you are going to do something.”  How many times have you made a promise?  

Reflecting on this word, I think of all the promises I have made in my life. I’d like to say that I have kept all of them, but know that there have been times, for one reason or another; I have broken some of them. We promise or vow when we get married that we will “love, honor and cherish” our husband/wife “in sickness and in health, till death we do part”. We are all looking forward to the promise of spring after this long, cold winter.  Promises aren’t things most of us take lightly. The other side of a promise is the belief that the promise will be kept.

I read somewhere that God made over three hundred promises in the Bible. We all know that He promised Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery. He also promised Noah to never flood the earth again and the bow in the sky is a reminder of that promise. In John 3:16 reads that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live.” (John 11:25-26) “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28-29) St. Paul writes: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God-not by works….For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance.” (Ephesians 2: 8-10) NIV

As I reflect on the word “promise” this Lenten season, I believe with my entire heart and soul that I too will be raised to see the face of God. Not through only “good works” but because of my faith through grace that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior!  Just as God has kept His promises throughout the Bible, so too He will keep the promise of eternal life to all who accept His son as Lord.

Shared by Kathie Ruhs