{"id":2378,"date":"2012-05-20T09:13:29","date_gmt":"2012-05-20T16:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=2378"},"modified":"2012-05-20T09:13:29","modified_gmt":"2012-05-20T16:13:29","slug":"vows-and-the-work-of-my-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2012\/05\/20\/vows-and-the-work-of-my-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Vows and the Work of my Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n
Terry Martin<\/em>, from my 2008 sketchbook. Terry died last week, as graciously as he lived, honored by a thousand peers. He left a legacy of hand shaping some 80,000 surfboards. That and the simple honesty of his yes meaning yes and his no meaning no, nothing more.<\/h6>\n

Here’s one:<\/p>\n

“When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.”*<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s one of the few places in the Bible where vows are discussed at all. They don’t seem to be so God-required as we might think. Rather, we tend to come up with them on our own, to add power to our resolve. But in the end, they usually only show up our weakness. And when we don’t fulfill them, we’re worse off.<\/p>\n

Better advice might be a shortened version: \u201cWhen you go to make a vow to God, don’t.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s not that God doesn’t hear it; he hears everything. You want to be taken seriously? He’ll take you seriously. But when you fail, then what?<\/p>\n

Here’s what follows: \u201cWhy should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Noooooooooo! That’s about the most fearsome threat I can think of.<\/p>\n

The work of our hands . . . metaphor for EVERYTHING WE DO<\/strong>. To experience frustration with it is, well, frustrating, exasperating, and mega-discouraging. It can make everything seem futile. If anything, the work of my hands needs God’s help, not God’s opposition.<\/p>\n

So what about this?<\/p>\n

I’ve made vows. Not so much anymore as I know how I am . . . zealous at the beginning but then, encountering obstacles, my resolve weakens. In time, it’s all shot full of holes.<\/p>\n

Then I appeal to another aspect to the All-hearing All-seeing: MERCY. And though he takes no pleasure in fools, maybe he’ll make exception for just this one, once again.<\/p>\n

Jesus’ approach was simpler, \u201cJust say Yes or No and mean it; anything else (like a vow) just messes it up.\u201d**<\/strong><\/p>\n

So there it is: Just get back to work, don’t say too much, deliver more than you promise and you’ll be on the safe side. Let God, who takes no pleasure in hindering you, bless the work of your hands.<\/p>\n

It can make all the difference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

___________________________<\/p>\n

*Ecclesiastes 5:4-6, **Matthew 5:33-37 (my paraphrase)<\/p>\n

Next: Wisdom Is What Wisdom Does<\/em>. Coming Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you make a vow, be sure an fulfill it. Better advice: don’t make one. It’s the way Terry Martin lived, and the results tell all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2378"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3329,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378\/revisions\/3329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}