Laura J. Davis

Have you ever made a vow to God? Or have you ever prayed something like, "Dear Lord, if you give me this, I promise to...?" When the Lord answered your prayer and you received your request, did you keep your promise?

In1 Samuel 1:1-28, we learn about Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, who prayed that the Lord would give her a son. In fact, she had been barren for so many years that she promised God if He would give her a son, she would dedicate the child to God and bring him to live in the Temple in Shiloh, as soon as he was weaned. God heard her prayer and Hannah gave birth to Samuel and as hard as it was for her to keep her promise to God, she did just that. As soon as he was weaned, Hannah took him to the Temple and left him with Eli the priest.

Can you imagine how hard that was for her? She had waited years for a baby and when God granted her request, she kept the vow she made before Him. She dedicated her son to Him and left him in the care of an old man (Eli the priest in the temple). She saw Samuel once a year, when she came to the Temple to offer sacrifices with her husband. Each year she brought him a new robe. Some commentaries suggest that Samuel was between 3 and 5 when he was left at the temple to live. He would have been of an age where he could serve in the temple. Let's assume he was around the five year mark, about the time we send our children to school. Remember the anxiety you felt when you put your child on the bus for the first time? You worried about their happiness, whether he/she would make friends. You worried about whether or not they would behave! But, with relief they returned home to you at the end of the day, excited about their new friends. Or maybe not - I know my son never wanted to go back and it was a challenge just to get him out the door in the morning!

Now think about Hannah. She wasn't putting Samuel on a bus that was going across town. She was journeying to a place that was far away from where she lived, to LEAVE her son there - permanently! She saw him once a year. Imagine the reunion! Imagine the heartache. Hannah knew that a vow made to God was not something to be taken lightly. She kept her promise and God blessed her with three more sons and two daughters! Imagine, the blessings we lose by not keeping our vows.

Today, we vow before God to love our spouse until death parts us. Yet many couples (Christians included) do not take their vows seriously enough to realize they are covenanting with God, and they divorce at the first sign of trouble. We vow to bring our children up to know the Lord when we dedicate them. We vow to follow the Lord and serve him when we go through the waters of baptism. We declare to all who witness our baptism that we belong to the Lord and aim to follow Him. We make rash promises to God when we want something, without realising theconsequences of those actions. And we fail. We let our children go their own way. We choose to love the world and all it offers over serving God and honouring Him. We break our promises and our relationship with God is broken. And then we wonder where it all went wrong.

I fear, that God is no longer feared and I am heartbroken. He is taken for granted, His name is abused and He is mocked by those who do not know Him. This week is filled with the promise of a coming King, a Saviour. It is filled with the promise of eternal life, salvation, redemption, forgiveness - all because of the cross. All because God keeps His promises to us.

Can we do any less?