Vows-Part 2

FAITH:

Five Vows to Make and Keep
by A. W. Tozer

Some people object to taking vows, but in the Bible you will find many great men of God directed by covenants, promises, vows, and pledges. The psalmist was not averse to the taking of vows. He said, "Thy vows are upon me, 0 God, I will render my praises unto thee" (Psalm 56:12).

My counsel in this matter is that if you are really concerned about spiritual improvement - the gaining of new power, new life, new joy, and new personal revival within your heart -you will do well to make certain vows and proceed to keep them. if you should fail, go down in humility and repent and start over. But always keep these vows before you. They will help harmonize your heart with the vast powers that flow out and down from the throne where Christ sits at the right hand of God.

A carnal man refuses the discipline of such commitments. He says, "I want to be free. I don't want to lay any vows upon myself; I don't believe in it; it is legalism." Well, let me paint a picture of two men.

One of them will not take vows. He will not accept any responsibility. He wants to be free. And he is free - in a measure - just as a tramp is free. The tramp is free to sit on a park bench by day, sleep on a newspaper by night, get chased out of town on Thursday morning, and find his way up a set of creaky stairs in some flophouse on Thursday night. Such a man is free, but he is also useless. He clutters up the world whose air he breathes.

Let's look at another man - maybe a president or prime minister or any great man who carries upon himself the weight of government. Such men are not free. But in the sacrifice of their freedom they step up their power. if they insist upon being free, they can be free, just like the tramp. But they choose rather to be bound.

There are many religious tramps in the world who will not be bound by anything. They have turned the grace of God into personal license. But the great souls are the ones who have gone reverently to God with the understanding that in their flesh dwells no good thing. And they knew that without God's enablement any vows taken would be broken before sundown. Nevertheless, believing in God, reverently they took certain sacred vows. This is the way to spiritual power. There are five vows I have in mind which we do well to make and to keep.

1. DEAL THOROUGHLY WITH SIN

Sin has been driven underground these days and has come up with a new name and face. You may be subjected to this phenomenon in the schools. Sin is being called by various fancy names - anything but what it really is. For example, men don't get under conviction any more; they get a guilt complex.

Instead of confessing their guilt to God and getting rid of it, they sit on a couch and try and tell a man who ought to know better all about themselves. it comes out after a while that they were deeply disappointed when they were two years old or some such thing. That's supposed to make them better.

The whole thing is ridiculous, because sin is still the ancient enemy of the soul. it has never changed. We've got to deal firmly with sin in our lives. Let's remember that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." Righteousness lies at the door of the kingdom of God. The soul that sins, it shall die.

This is not to preach sinless perfection. This is to say that every known sin is to be named, identified, and repudiated and that we must trust God for deliverance from it so that there is no conscious, deliberate sin anywhere in our lives. It is absolutely necessary that we deal thus, because God is a holy God and sin is on the throne of the world.

So don't call your sins by some other name. if you're jealous, call it jealousy. If you tend to pity yourself and feel that you are not appreciated, call it what it is - self-pity.

And then there is your temper. Don't call it indignation. Don't try to christen it by some other name Call it what it is. Because if you have a bad temper you will either get rid of it, or it will get rid of much of your spirituality and most of your joy. So let's deal with sin thoroughly. Let's be perfectly candid. God loves candid people.

FRIENDS:

Father, help us to recall the moment we first believed. The joy at no longer being a slave but your child. Set free to do great things in your name. If the first flame has flickered down, help us to fan it and bring it back to life and to tell others about the only hope this earth knows. In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE CHALLENGE
APRIL 25
Mark 9:14-32; 1 Cor 16; Psalms 94; Ruth 4
This is the last one for April. Take time to catch up on any that you have missed and we will start again on the 1st of May.

FOOD:
Some one told me the other day that they didn't eat fish because it was too hard to cook. Here is a really easy recipe to just pop in the oven.

Oven Roasted Salmon with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Glaze
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup purchased sun-dried tomato pesto
2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 pounds salmon fillet or 4 1/2-pound pieces
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Combine the pesto, lemon zest and mustard in a small mixing bowl and mix to combine.
Arrange the fillets in a baking dish, skin side down, allowing some space between each fillet. Using a spatula, frost each fillet with equal amounts of the pesto mixture. Roast the salmon for about 20-25 minutes, or until just cooked, depending on thickness of fillets.

FUN: