“What, my son? And what, the son of my womb? And what, the son of my vows?” (Prov. 31: 2)
Again, let’s linger a little on the verse above. I found an aspect of that verse go round and round in my mind and I thought; why not write on it, however briefly, today?
And this aspect is from the phrase, …the son of my vows.
I kept reflecting on the word vows.
The Amplified Version of the Bible renders this phrase, …son of my vows and dedication to God.
“…O son of my promises”, is the New Living Translation’s rendition of the same.
A vow is a solemn promise. In this case, it was a solemn promise to God by the queen mother. She must have uttered a vow or vows to God concerning her son. She must have dedicated him to God.
She could have done this before his conception, or as she carried him in the womb, or as she watched him grow. We are not told when really. Whatever the case, she uttered vows to God over her son.
I personally prayed for my children even before they were conceived. You see, as a new couple, we were trusting God for children, not making an assumption we would have children from our loins simply because we were now married.
When God enabled us to conceive, with each of our children, I laid hands on my womb, that is, on my babies, and prayed for them.
One of my prayers was that they would serve the purposes of God; that I would not hold on to them should the Lord lead them to serve him a certain way or in a certain place.
Now, vows were taken seriously in Israel. Two instances come to mind:
One was Jephthah, who made a solemn vow to God, to sacrifice whatever would come out of the door of his house to meet him if the LORD would grant him victory in battle. (Judg. 11:30-39). Quite a controversial vow it was. Wasn’t it?
The lesson I wanted to bring out is this one: Jephthah honored his vow!
The second instance is found in the story of Hannah. Hannah was barren. One time, in earnest prayer, she made a vow to God, that if only God would give her a son, she would give him to the Lord all the days of his life. (1 Sam. 1:11)
Hannah would later fulfil her vow to God.
One of the things the Psalmist in Psalm 116: 14 declares he will do as an act of gratitude to God is to fulfill his vows unto God in the presence of God’s people.
I find it rather interesting that one of the characteristics of one who shall abide and dwell in God’s tabernacle is one who keeps his oath even when it hurts. He swears to his own hurt. In other words, he keeps his or her word. (Psalm 15:4b)
What am I getting at with all this? How can we apply this to our daily lives as women?
I want you to keep remembering that we are tracking the Proverbs 31 woman, seeking to glean as much as we possibly can from this passage, as we look to God to make us into the women, he wants us to be.
I hope you are beginning to see that one major characteristic of a woman of noble character is that she keeps her word.
Having worked with young women for a while now, I am finding that not many women think this is a virtue, or biblical characteristic.
Too many young women make rush promises to God and break them with equal speed. They will solemnly vow to serve God all their lives for instance, then break that vow the next minute an exciting offer shows up.
God understands. I will make money to support God’s work. They respond.
Interestingly, now that my husband and I serve God in what is commonly known us ministry on a full-time basis, like most ministries, a huge part of our support comes from the giving of faithful men and women.
Tremendously great work thrives because of promises partners make and keep to support God’s work. But as expected, some drop off along the way. But as Hudson Taylor said, God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supplies, God’s work still progresses in spite of these challenges.
I know many mothers who will take their children to the altar in church for dedication. Years later, when that son or daughter comes to share their interest in doing God’s work, or engaging in a certain vocation, they are up in arms, not ready or willing to release their children to do what they sense God is calling them to do.
It’s very true that God is gracious and that we are living in the dispensation of God’s grace.
I therefore don’t expect any woman to go to the lengths Jephthah did, nor do I expect that a woman should live in guilt because they didn’t keep a certain vow to God.
Even the Old Testament had a system in place to keep a woman who was still under her father’s authority, or a married woman under her husband’s authority, from making a vow that her father for an unmarried woman, or a husband, for a wife, hadn’t approved of.
I however believe that, as we walk with God, we want to train ourselves to keep our word when it comes to sincere genuine promises that we know are for the glory of God and have the approval of at least a mentor, discipler, pastor, or a genuine Godfearing authority.
As we come to a close, let me share three reasons why it is important for you to keep your word:
- By just keeping your word, especially when it hurts, you get to realize your strength of character is growing.
Being able to withstand pressure and pursue a cause you believe in as a woman will almost always inspire many others coming after you.
I know a woman who withstood immense pressure and kept her word to marry a godly man who had a heart for God’s work. To date, they continue to be a blessing to many young people in their generation as a result of that difficult choice by this woman to keep her word.
- You have the blessing of God upon you.
I find this blessing spelt out in Psalm 15. When we keep our word, in honoring God in our decision making, God is honored. We in turn live with the blessedness of God over our lives.
- You can be trusted, not only by God but by others.
I am not sure I know of any woman who can trust a person they know will change their minds.
We have almost always run a discipleship program for young people where they volunteer to serve God for a year. Many of the young people would at one point or another want to give up.
Just as I was advised when I was in a similar discipleship program, I would advise the young women to hold on to the end, reminding them “the end of something is better than the beginning.’ They will be trusted by the next person they meet because they were able to finish what they started.
This was part of keeping their word.
Keeping your word will not be easy. It might just be at the expense of seeing ‘golden’ opportunities fly by. It might cost you leaps into your career for a young mother for instance, because you made the choice to prioritize the nurturing of your children. It could cost staying on the mission field for a young missionary…
Yes, it is costly to keep your word. let me remind you though that nothing done for God is ever wasted. It is yielding eternal fruit far beyond what you could ever imagine.
Only eternity might reveal, the abundant fruit of your choice to keep your word; a choice made because you honor God and his Word.
“Father, I pray that you would continue to form me. I pray that I will be enabled to keep my word, uttered in light of your will. I pray to grow in this strength of character, with the help of your Spirit. In Jesus name. Amen.”