April 13, 2012 As we grow up the world makes us certain promises. If you work hard and play by the rules then success will be yours. If you keep the commitments you make with others then they will honor the commitments which they have made to you. Live frugally today and you will have plenty set aside for tomorrow. Upon further examination one easily discovers that each of these promises are broken in life with some frequency. If you work hard and play by the rules you might succeed, or your boss might replace you with his nephew, or the economy may change and you loose your job, or to your great horror you may discover that you have been working hard for, GM, Solendra, Fannie Mae or Enron. Keeping the commitments you make is no guarantee that others will keep the commitments they have made to you. Life teaches us that spouses can be unfaithful, children can go astray, and friends can and do let us down. Saving today presupposes that, for you, there will be a tomorrow. None of us can be assured of this. We all know of someone who died prematurely of cancer, a heart attack, in a car accident or by violence. The world’s promises cannot be taken for certain and for us this is not assuring. We crave certitude because we must constantly deal with uncertainty. This is why the biblical promises bring us such comfort and assurance. God’s promises are true and may be depended upon not only in the present but throughout eternity. Peter said it this way. Through these (God’s goodness and glory) He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:4 (NIV) Did you get that? God’s promises are very great and precious to us and through God’s promises we can escape evil desires and the corruption in the world. Wow! Hundreds of years before Jesus was born God promised His people through the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34) that he would make another covenant with them, and through Jesus God kept His promise. Jesus promised His disciples (John 14:1-4) that He was preparing a place for them where they could be with Him forever, and this promise is the basis for Christian hope in the face of death. Jesus promised to give His Spirit to each of His disciples (John 14:15-27 and John 15:26-27), and I can testify that He kept His promise. God also promises that He will complete His work in us (Philippians 1:6), and that he will not allow His children to endure a temptation beyond what they can bear (1 Corinthian 10:13). According to Peter these and all of the other promises which God gives us in the scriptures are given to us “so that through them (God’s promises) you (plural “you all” or “y’all” depending on where in the U.S. you were raised) may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” In the final analysis our hope rests not on the uncertainty and fickleness of the world but on the reliability and certainty of God’s promises. If you have trusted in God’s promise you can count on Him to keep His promise!