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FULFIL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: FRIDAY, 23RD JUNE, 2023 

TOPIC: FULFIL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD

TEXT: JUDGES 11: 29-40

29.  Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced [toward] the people of Ammon.
30.  And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,
31.  "then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."
32.  So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33.  And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith -- twenty cities -- and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34.  When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she [was his] only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
35.  And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it."
36.  So she said to him, "My father, [if] you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon."
37.  Then she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I."
38.  So he said, "Go." And he sent her away [for] two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.
39.  And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man. And it became a custom in Israel
40.  [that] the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
 

MESSAGE: 
In our text today, Jephthah made a rash vow to the LORD that brought sorrow to his heart (vs. 30,32-35). He vowed that if the LORD enabled him to win the battle against Ammon, he would sacrifice unto the Lord whatever comes out of his house to welcome him (v.30). The Lord honoured his words and gave him victory (vs. 32-33). On his return, his only child, a virgin daughter, danced out to welcome him and sorrow filled his heart, because of his vow (vs. 34-35). It is worthy of note that Jephthah's daughter did not discourage her father from carrying out his vow, but encouraged him to fulfil it after a period of mourning (v.36).
Beloved, vows are solemn pledges. They should be made after serious thought, not on impulse. No one is forced to make a vow, but when it is ever made, it must be honoured (Deut. 23: 21-23; Ps. 15: 4; Eccl. 5: 4, 5). Think well before you make your vow, so that you do not bring sorrow to your heart like Jephthah did. What vows have you made to God? Go and fulfil them so that it may be well with you and your household. It is instructive that we learn from the attitude of Jephthah's daughter. We should encourage vow-makers to fulfil their vows made unto the Lord.
 

PRAYER: 
Lord, help me to be in the right mind when making a vow, so I can fulfil it, in Jesus' name. Amen.
 

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