How many people have become a wounded warrior due to me  not keeping a promise or an oath? How many promises have I made and left unfulfilled? What were the consequences of my actions or lack thereof? These are the questions that I pondered in my head as we continued our series on Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Sunday’s sermon definitely left me feeling convicted. Specifically, I’m speaking about the thirty-third verse, in which Christ states, “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘DO NOT BREAK YOUR OATH, BUT KEEP THE OATHS YOU HAVE MADE TO THE LORD.” In defense I asked what happens when the motivation or circumstances in which an oath was made changes? Is the person who made the oath still obligated to fulfill their promise? The answer in most cases is yes. So, before deciding to make an oath to someone we are to “think twice and speak once,”  Dr. Phelps stated.  I understand and can relate to you if you feel like the worst thing to be than always being a “yes man” is always being one who’s answer is no.  Positions or roles that we find ourselves undertaking in life can make us feel obligated to fulfill certain needs regardless of our limitations.  However, it takes more than just good intentions to follow through on an oath. One has to have the means of accomplishing what they said they would do because a lot is at stake.  Wisdom has to play a major part  even in our talk.  So, for  resolve it seems we must stay connected to God  in order to know and accomplish our assignments.   We must play our positions  in the Kingdom of God and be weary of other roles that can  distract us. As spokespersons of the kingdom of God we do not necessarily have freedom of speech.  We can inadvertantly be evangelizing  or discouraging others  about  the Kingdom of God  based on whether or not we keep our oaths. The last two sermons have left me thinking that we as Christians have to meticulously monitor our  interactions with everyone. We are representatives of a kingdom that is being watched and scrutinize daily without fail.  It has become more apparent that we are being watched by those not only outside of this Christian kingdom but those within it as well.  We are dealing with things in the spiritual realm just as much if not more than the physical realm.  I’ve found that It’s those things in the spiritual realm that we often take lightly until they manifest and we can’t avoid them.

D Mills