God, I swear if you do this…

We all make vows or commitments we don't follow through.

Part of being a minister, you basically are guaranteeing you will work every Christmas Eve and every resurrection Sunday (Also known as Easter).

This is in the unwritten rules of a minister.

Well, I failed at both.

Yesterday, I was at home with a sick girl and Christmas Eve I was on vacation. (Update: Nevaeh is now on antibiotics and hopefully starting to feel better. Christmas was the only time I have been up to visit my family since moving to Terre Haute).

I feel bad about missing Church, but at the same time all my work was already taken care and yesterday my wife was in our Easter Drama and I wasn't.

Therefore she had to be there and I really didn't.

I called an elder to get his opinion and he told me to stay home so my wife could be in the program.

Sometimes we make commitments and they change or we aren't able to follow through.

Another commitment I made was about losing weight.

I have been under 180 pounds for about two weeks (Which for me is very impressive).

I had a goal of getting down to 173 pounds by last Wednesday. It didn't happen.

I got down to as low as 177, but didn't go lower.

What's holding you back from your commitments?

Jesus talks about oaths that we make and this is what he says about it in chapter 5 verses 33 and 37…

"Again you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.'

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

We are good at making vows and bad at keeping them.

We swear to God, dead relatives or our mother's life.

We often mess up.

People say to death do us part and two become one, yet the divorce rate is over 50 percent.

When we don't follow through with our own oaths, people have trouble following us.

Jesus wants us to change that, to stay with our commitments.

Jesus wants honest people who don't have to make extra commitments for people to believe us.

While I didn't make it to my weight, I will try again.

Yet I do feel better, I weigh less than I did my senior year in high school (Maybe not as strong, but I weigh less).

While I did miss Church, I have to remember that I made a commitment to my wife and to my family before I made a commitment to be a servant in a Church.

Plus, if I can't be a servant to my family, how am I supposed to serve a Church?

If people at a Church like me, but my family never sees me and hates being around me.

Am I being the person/servant God wants me to be?

What about you?

What oaths are you making that you are having trouble following through with?

Jesus wants us to have our Yes be Yes and No be No.

We might make mistakes, but I hope to make less the further in life I go.

Have a great day.