"When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed." (Ecclesiastes 5:4 KJV)
"If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." (1 John 1:8-10 NLT)
Keep on keeping on; that is something we are told, as if it is the answer to all of our struggles and difficult life expectancies. Not that I am an expert in doing anything right; but I do know the One who is, and He never has to say, "Sorry!" Me, on the other hand, there is hardly a day that goes by when I don't have to say, "Sorry, Lord, I blew it again!"
Isn't a relief that He knows everything about us; yet He still loves us, called us, and has chosen us, even knowing all of the wickedness we would do before Him! How many times I have said, "Lord, I promise to be good, and I will keep my heart set upon You," only to find myself off the path and with my heart in more of the world, than it is upon Him? Too many to keep track of; and I'm so glad that He is not counting!
Whether or not this justifies the point of making a vow, we all know the struggles we have to be holy! The only way we can be, even close to holy, is by abiding in Christ! He is our righteousness! Without Christ standing between us and the Father, we have nothing holy about us; all of our works are just filthy rags, used to wipe the sin off ourselves, and hold up to God, as if they represent righteousness.
As it goes, the harder we work at not messing up, the more we seem to mess up. This is because we are committed to the wrong thing; instead of focusing on that which messes us up, we need to focus upon the One who cleansed us, making us a new creation, and filled with the Spirit! As Paul says, "Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God grace." (Romans 6:14 NLT)
But that doesn't mean we can keep on sinning; yet we all still struggle with sin! If we say that we don't, then we are just fooling ourselves! If anyone could have control over their own bodies, then Christ would not have had to come and give His own body to pay for our sins...
"We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won't become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin." (Hebrews 12:2-4 NLT)
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