Count On It

What’s your “go to” excuse? Not the legitimate reasons for opting out of something. Those do (seldom) happen.  I am talking about the excuse we go to when we are over-committed and tired and we want to bail out of a promise. Or worse, we make no excuse and just ignore it.

I remember, as a child, being offered a great opportunity to have fun with a (preferred) friend only to be reminded by my mother that I had promised to accompany another friend (less preferred) to an event that very same time. I kept my promise.

I learned in the oil patch that a man’s (woman’s as well) promise was bankable. One could count on it. I could depend and be depended upon when a handshake took place. What was at stake is respect. When a promise means nothing, those on the receiving end of a broken promise are burdened and are disrespected.

Today, our promises, commitments, and “sign on the dotted lines” come with the understanding that “you can count on me and my word UNLESS it becomes inconvenient.”

This Advent, as we prepare for Christ to come into your life, imagine a world where promise where kept, burdens are shared and respect flows freely. It starts with us.

But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. Matthew 5:37 (NKJV)