A Man Of My Word

This is an e-mail I received from my friend, Steve Jones, that illustrates the kind of obedience God desires from us. It begins with Jeremiah 35:5:

I set cups and jugs of wine before them and invited them to have a drink, but they refused. “No,” they said, “we don’t drink wine, because our ancestor Jehonadab son of Recab gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine'...Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: "Go and say to the people in Judahand Jerusalem, ‘Come and learn a lesson about how to obey me. The Recabites do not drink wine to this day because their ancestor Jehonadab told them not to. But I have spoken to you again and again, and you refuse to obey me.' "

Talk about a legacy! Here's a clan of families that were so zealous about keeping their promises that not one of their family members had drunk a drop of wine for TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS! And what does God say? "Learn a lesson about how to obey me." The abstinence from alcohol is not the point, (though that would serve you well), but the determination to obey God no matter what. Let's keep our promises, men. The Recabites prove that it can done. I pray that today you will keep your promises. Please pray that for me.