Love That Never Fails

52. Keeping Your Promise

Have you ever made a promise and then had second thoughts when the time came to take action? Hannah had made a promise that if she could fall pregnant and have a son, she would give him to the Lord for all the days of his life —now that God had blessed her with Samuel, it was time for Hannah to fulfil her end of the vow! Imagine how hard that would have been after she had waited so long to have a child!

"When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always." "Do what seems best to you," her husband Elkanah told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his word." So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, "Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there."
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭1:21-28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In the culture of that day, weaning usually took place at the age of two to three. How hard it would have been, as this time drew near! Hannah's reluctance is evident in the start of this passage but she was faithful in holding up her end of the promise. As painful as it would have been, Hannah brings her toddler and gives him to the Lord.

This passage reminds us that all children are a gift from God, a great blessing for which we can worship God! As we raise them, we need to remember that they belong to Him. Although it's hard to imagine, God loves them even more than we do! Each day that we pray for them, we can be sure that God hears our prayers and answers them out of a heart filled with love and compassion.

Have you made any vows before the Lord? Take time to think about whether you have kept your promise! If you are married, you would have made vows before God to love and cherish etc til 'death us to part'. If you are a parent, you may have made vows in a service of dedication to bring your child up knowing the Lord. It's not too late to take action on a vow, no matter how long ago it was made!

Let's pray:

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for this great reminder to keep the vows I have made before You at various times. I am so blessed by the love You have shown me and my family over so many years and today I seek to renew the vows I have made to You in the past........

I worship You for Your great faithfulness to me and pray that I will show great faithfulness in return. Thank You for Your love and for all the ways You demonstrate it to me each day. Bless my family at this time and may we worship You together as Samuel and his parents did!

For Your glory,
Amen.