Promises are funny things. They’re easy to make and often easier to break, but generally hard to keep. Sometimes we wish we could be free, for just a little bit at least, of all life’s obligations that we are required to meet. Robert Frost poetically captured that truth in his poem, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.�

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep,                                           And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.â€�

Sometimes, keeping our word truly feels like having to go miles and miles before we can sleep, doesn’t it? Keeping promises really is hard. Maybe that’s part of the reason why so many people break them. Keeping them builds our integrity and makes us upright citizens on Earth and in Heaven. That’s why when someone does keep his promiseâ€"especially one that really costs him somethingâ€"it never goes unnoticed.

Booker T. Washington told of meeting an ex-slave who exemplified the kind of upright sacrifice and integrity that is sometimes involved in keeping promises. This man had entered into a contract with his master stating that he would buy his freedom by paying his master a yearly fee. While he was earning the money that would pay for his freedom, his master released him from service on his plantation, so that he would be able to labor wherever and for whomever he could earn the most money. The slave went north because the wages were better there. But each year, he would return to his master’s plantation to present that year’s payment to his master. After a few years, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery and brought freedom to all the slaves, including this man. But he still owed his master three hundred dollars. This, now “former�, slave was free! He no longer had to pay his former master the final three hundred dollars to purchase his freedom. But he had made a promise. He was a man of integrity. And so he returned to his former master with the full amount he had promised him. His actions may have been noticed only by his master, but I can assure you that blessings followed that man for the rest of his life.

When we consider the life of King David, most remember the questionable choices he made, including adultery and murder. But our gracious and merciful God forgave David of his sinful past, remembering only his faithfulness, the integrity of his heart, and his uprightness. God promised Solomon, David’s son, that his lineage would reign forever â€" as long as he followed in his father’s footsteps. God keeps His promises. Do you?

Suggested Prayer: Dear Gracious Heavenly Lord, You are Merciful and Just and we are undeserving of your sacrifice. Thank you for the Love you have shown me over and over again. Teach me to follow in Your Holy footsteps. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1. 1 Kings 9:4-5 (NIV).

Today’s Encounter was written by: Veronica B.