His Word

There was a day before the advent of complicated contracts filled with legalese where a man's word was his bond and binding deals were sealed with a handshake. In today's world even a written contract is little guarantee that what was said will be done.

Not long ago, I shook hands with a man who signed a letter of intent saying, "I don't really need a signed agreement. When I give my word I keep it."  But he didn't, not even after affixing his signature to the agreement in written form. His word, verbal and written, was not worth the paper he signed.

Sadly, this is not uncommon. The world is filled with lawyers drafting up binding contracts and suing the people who break them anyway.  And, of course, there is always a lawyer on the other side defending the one breaking the contract. It is sadly too true that promises are made to be broken. Even the most sacred of promises, "Until death do we part," is broken in the majority of cases today.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone's word was their bond, if what one said was always exactly what they intended to do and actually did?  Can you imagine a world where everyone kept their word, that everything they said could actually be "taken to the bank?"

Instead too many are being deceptive from the start, never intending to keep their word. Some construct contracts with small print for the express purpose of providing a loophole. When I was a boy, crossing your fingers behind your back provided that loophole.

And none of us has always kept their word. None of us can even truly insure we can keep our word. Our intention to keep it does not guarantee will have the ability to do so. Nonetheless, I choose to trust people and I desire to be trusted. I do so because that is the world I want and because it is the world to which I am called - The Kingdom of God.

In God's Kingdom, the spoken word becomes reality from the moment it is spoken and remains true forever. There is no going back on it, there is no time limit on it, there is no fear of it changing or being set aside.  As Jesus so firmly assures us, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" Matt 24:35).

This is our hope, this is our assurance when everything else crumbles around us, when our last friend runs out in us, when our last hope begins to fade on us - Jesus will never betray us or fail to keep his promises. He "will never leave us as orphans" (Jn 14:18). His word is better than gold, you can do more than take it to the bank, you can take it from here to eternity. Jus' Say'n.