Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them; let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared. Psalm 76:11

It is easy for people to make vows or promises. They are made on a regular basis to each other. Vows to do or not do something in order to make someone else happy. While these vows are constantly being made, many fail to pay them out, finding excuses to not do them. Many will find loopholes to say that they do not need to pay the vow that they had made.

Asaph tells the people to make their vows to God and then pay those vows. They are to bring their promised presents to God.

When people are in desperate situations, they will often make a vow to God to do something or not do something in order to get His help or favor. They hope that with their vow God will listen to them and get them out of the trouble that they are in.

However, when the difficulty is over, many forget those vows to God. Life moves on for them and God is placed on the back burner again, forgetting what He had done and what was promised. Believers who have made a vow to God need to fulfill that vow.

The first vow a believer makes is when one turns from sin and begins to follow Jesus. That believer has made a vow to follow God, rather than the sinful ways of self and the world. Doing this requires a daily choice to die to self and this world and choosing to live for God and obey His commands and ways of living.

In paying one’s vows, God then fulfills His promises and gives the believer power and authority upon this earth against the wicked.

At a minimum you have made a vow to God to live for Him. Now it is your responsibility to pay that vow to God and live for Him. Do not ignore or dismiss your vows to Him, but do what you have promised to God and trust Him to meet all of your needs and give you the life He has promised to you. God is faithful in all that He says, and so you should be faithful in all that you say and promise to Him.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will pay all of your vows to God as quickly as possible; that God will give you strength and boldness to pay your vows; and that you will see God’s faithfulness in His promises to you.

Picture by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash