day no. 16,262: making an appointment with yourself

“The man who makes a vow makes an appointment with himself at some distant time or place. The danger of it is that himself should not keep the appointment.” — G.K. Chesterton, A Defense of Rash Vows

In order to keep a promise, you must take responsibility. Anyone can make a promise, many cannot keep them. Anyone can commit to the future, but few follow through. You can make a promise by accident; but you cannot keep one that way. Promises require intention. Responsibility requires initiative.

Ecclesiastes 5:5

It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 

A vow cannot be imposed upon you. It is, rather, something you impose upon yourself. Vows cannot be forced on the front end, but they must be enforced on the back end. They must be entered into freely and kept without quarter.

Nothing is easier to make than a promise. A vow sounds good in everyone's mouth. Everyone seeks the benefits of making promises, but few seek the blessing of promise keeping.

Proverbs 20:6-7

Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love,

but a faithful man who can find?

The righteous who walks in his integrity— 

blessed are his children after him! 

More have professed their love at the front of a church than have kept their covenant to the back of the funeral. It is easier to vow at the end of an aisle than to stay faithful to the end of your life. Love is not in the strength of the profession, but in the durability of the procession. No one can promise to feel loving feelings forever and promises made upon emotion are destined to dissolve. Those who keep their covenants because they said they would bless their offspring with a living picture of the covenant love of the Lord for His elect.