ROOTED - Tuesday, February 17, 2026
21 If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. 23 Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.
Reflection: Vows
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
I catch myself occasionally saying, “I promise on a stack of Bibles.” It is a more colorful way of saying, simply, “I promise.” It is definitely preferrable to saying, “I swear” (which I try to avoid saying). A promise is, essentially, a vow. And I find it interesting how seriously God takes vows. Moses in this second telling of the Law reiterates this warning: don’t make vows to God and not make good on your vow. To do so is bad! Very bad! We are reminded that “whatever your lips utter you must surely do….” I don’t know about you, but I have made vows to the Lord out of desperation… striking deals with him when I need him to pull through. Have you done this? You know… like… “God if you will do such and such, I promise I will…!” I have, sadly, done this more times than I care to recount. But we should take care to avoid this foolishness.
This time reading through this Book of Deuteronomy I noticed something I have never noticed before. I wonder if you caught it! There are two verses in chapter 23 after the section on vows, and then the chapter ends. Chapter 24 then begins a long section on divorce… and laws concerning a man’s desire to be unfaithful. It strikes me as curious, for the first time, that a section on vows is followed so closely by a section on marital fidelity. Surely this is not a mere coincidence. Surely, we might infer that God intentionally links these subjects (vows and fidelity) such that we might pay attention. I submit that marital fidelity is where we might see vows to God broken the most. We do, after all, make marital vows in church before God! Yet in America, among Christians, divorce and infidelity is rampant. This speaks not only to our low view of marriage, but also to our low view on vows. Perhaps, at weddings, we should focus on the importance (and gravity) of biblical vows before God as much as the beauty of marriage.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help us to take our vows before you seriously, and help us (as a church) to place a high value on marriage as a result.