“4. 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. 5. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?”
Many years ago, the Ohio turkey season opened with a great success. I was hoping to get my sister her first bird, but the Tom in the field would not close the distance. I slipped out of the blind and belly crawled to the decoy. As I made a movement toward the Tom, he quickly changed his course and came my way. It was exciting! My sister even captured it on film! Season opened well, but unfortunately it ended with some great lessons learned. As we approached the second week of season the birds were everywhere. I took a friend on his very first turkey hunt. We went into state land without scouting and a group of jakes made their way up the ridge. I encouraged him to squeeze the trigger before they got out of his shooting zone. The bird went down! Actually, two birds went down. Not a big deal! Right? There is a problem! We both work for the state as Natural Resource Officers. We did the right thing and turned ourselves in. We were not game wardens, but he did show up later. Talk about feeling like an idiot. The case went to the prosecutor and thankfully they didn’t charge him. It was an accident, but it did cause a bit of stress and embarrassment. I wish it I could say the season ended there, but I can’t. Its now the last week of season, and I still have my second tag. A friend invited me to a farm he had permission to hunt, with hopes of a bird, before the last few days of season ended. As we pulled into the drive, there he was! Strutting out in the middle of the field. We circled him and then I belly crawled a good distance to where he was. As I got into place he was on the edge of my shooting window when I took the first shot. I fired two more shots and missed him every time. As I stood in frustration I caught the glimpse of some movement in the direction of where my first shot rang out. Uh Oh!! It was a hen that was on her last breath. I didn’t even see her there and still don’t know how I hit her. What’s really bad about this situation is that my friend that brought me here is also the game warden. The case was investigated and I sat in stress for two weeks with the plan of having to pay a citation for shooting a hen out of season. By the grace of God the prosecutor chose not to charge me. Again, it was an accident. A season that started out so well, ended with nothing more than correction. Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Sounds like a run of bad luck rather than chastisement. Looking back at that year, its hard for me not to think of Ecclesiastes 5:4. Before turkey season started that year I was trying to make better financial decisions to get out of debt. I made a vow to the Lord weeks before turkey season opened up saying, I would only buy one turkey tag this season. A few days before season opened I revoked my vow and said I would buy a second tag if I fill my first one. That is a season I will never forget! Looking at the main passage its important to remember that its better to not make a vow, than to make one and break it. God dealt with me in a difficult way that year, but it taught me some great truths about the Bible. God is faithful! He is faithful in love and He is faithful in chastisement. Don’t break you vows to God, it will really hurt your relationship and cause great strife in your life. Be faithful to God for what you say you will do! He will always honor your faithfulness! You can even apply this to friendships. Are you able to have a close friendship with others when their word is no good? Of course not! If your a Christian, do your best to make only vows you can keep! Do you really want to be labelled as a fool? Is it really worth broken relationships? I can tell you by experience, its not worth it. It does not matter how big or how small the vow may be. Don’t learn the hard way!(Darren Barnett)
Memory Verse Week 5/11/20
Ecclesiastes 5:4
“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.”
