Neh 10-11 An Oath... I Promise to...

May 28th, Nehemiah 10-11

       Here's what I promise... A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. As a scout we said it every week at the meetings. Promises that we make as we represent a group for which we are a participant. Marriage comes along, we promise to love, to honor, to cherish...forsaking all others. A promise for which we rightfully expect no violation from the other person making the same vow.
       The vows we take shape us. They guide which decision we make and which one we don't make. It makes the scoutmaster have the right to tell us to shower on the fifth day of summer camp...after all we promised to be "clean."
       In Nehemiah's day it's time to redefine what a life of faith means. Their vow is a glimpse into what our own vows should look like. It starts off with the idea that they have knowledge and understanding about what they are entering into. I recited the Boy Scout Code because it was what you did. There was probably a failure in pondering it and really trying to live it out. Here's what we're getting ourselves into...
       We're entering into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law. Interesting that they use the word curse. The context makes a little more sense. They are coming out of captivity rooted in their ancestors failure to maintain the same promise they are now taking. An oath and obligation requires something of us, a giving up of this__________  because we promise that_____________. It is a point of decision, a clarifying moment that has to be made over and over again until it becomes the way we naturally do things.
       The obligation to give was a repeated idea. People were to give of the fruits of their labor. What impresses me is the amount of forethought required to make things happen. Planting crops, fruit trees/bushes all takes time with some eye to the future. An oath has a lot of little pieces that precede a harvest. The other impression is the nature of subsistence farming. God is asking for a part of the very thing that sustains their life, thus the nature of sacrifice, to give up the food that will feed us and provide the seed for next year.
       Making an oath is a lot easier than keeping an oath. By the grace of God may we become more aware of the oath we've taken, and grow in strength as we fulfill it.