Day 69, or March 10. He should have counted to ten.
Our thoughts today are from Judges chapter 11, verses 30 and 31.
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes
out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will
be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.
The big picture surrounding these verses. In just four chapters of the book of Judges
there are seven Judges mentioned. We start with the son of Gideon Abimelech, who unlike
his father really wanted to be king. Then we have a list that includes Jephthah. These
are amongst the least well-known Judges.
And now today's action step. When a door-to-door salesperson comes to your house, you are
usually given a cooling-off period after they have gone, to reconsider any decision you
may have made. In the heat of the moment we can promise some outlandish things, but Jephthah
was in a league of his own when it came to making silly promises. What did he expect
to come out of his house? In parts of the Middle East even today it could be a lamb
or a goat or maybe a dog, but it could also just as easily be a spouse or a child. Sadly
for Jephthah it was his only daughter. At least he honoured his promise and paid the
price, but actually it was his daughter who paid. I do wonder if he should have been pleading
with God first. People in the Bible don't always get it right. Never make rash promises
that deep down you know you maybe can't keep. A friend of mine, whenever he was asked for
a speaking date, would always tell the inquirer that he would get back to them. He never agreed
on the spot. I have to admit, agreeing instantly has got me into more trouble than I care to
think about, so I'm writing this for me, but I don't mind if you read it too.
When you are next asked for an instant response that could have long term repercussions, try
to respond with, may I come back to you? I know I'm going to.