Emphasis Preaching Journal

Promises are for keeping. Every bride knows that, as she walks down the aisle to offer her vows: as does her groom, who’s there waiting for her. The promise of faithfulness that resides at the very heart of marriage is a beautiful one — and essential to our society. Promises are for keeping. That’s what each one of us affirms, as well, every time we sign a check to pay some debt. Mortgage payment, student loan or credit-card bill: Every check signed, sealed, and dropped into the mailbox brings us that much closer to fulfilling some promise we have made. Where would any of us be, in life, without promises? Some anthropologists declare that the promise is one of the most important innovations in human history. Without promises, there could be no banking, no insurance, no law (other than brute force). The only commerce would consist of “cash on the barrelhead” — and not paper currency, only silver or gold. In short, a life without promises would be a life barely worth living: a savage, brutal, dog-eat-dog existence. Solomon celebrates the greatest promise of all: the covenant of God.