The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1957-08-09

this would make: The bearer is
is young man Of fine background
He graduated with honors He has
great charm Of manner, his know
how is enormous for his age He
has only one drawback: you can't
depend on him N--i
Promising God
Belief in God is feehler, even
among good people. than It ought
to be. One proof Of this is the fact
that many people. II not most Of
them. will be deeply ashamed 81
not keeping their promises 10 hui
man beings: but will not take
very seriously their failure TO keep
promises made to God. II man
owes church pledge. and also
some local store. he viii pay the
store bill first. and If he can only
pay one. you know which gets the
cash II rafting" on promises
made to God is taken lightly. 1t
only shows how lightly men be-
lievc in God.
II the Bible teaches anything it is
that promises made 10 him
mean for more than when made 70
ordinary people. The short name
for such promises is vows"
Protestants make them as well as
Roman Catholics. promise ser
riously made. either to do some
thing for God or for his people be
cause they are his people tespc-
cially the church,, or promise
solemnly made in Gods presence.
calling on his name as witness, is
a vow AS the Bible teaches. no
body has to make vow. but once
made. the vow must be kept EN-
amples Of vows are those made
at baptism Thy the parents. II q
child IS involved. or by the ont
baptized If he is old enough. at
confirmation or joining the
church, or when making a pledge
Of money to church; or the vows
taken by bride and groom; as
well as all sorts Of private VOWS
-. and changeth Not"
He that sweareth 10 his own
hurt, and changeth not. comes
IN for special praise, in the 18th
Psalm The story of Hannah tells
OF just such person. She prom
ised her first child to God In her
days and circumstances, this
meant giving the child UP and
seldom seeing him again after the
first few years. She had been bit
ter about her childlessness. and Of
course was overjoyed when little
Samuel was born Giving him UP
meant being childless all over
aEain-but she kept her promise.
She had five other children later,
but she did not expect this when
she presented her one son. her
first-born. in the temple. It's easy
to make promises. even easy To
keep them when keeping them is
pleasant But your really devoted
Christians, solid to the core. are
those who keep their promises to
God no matter what
II Some One Knows
Human nature being what it is,
even a promise to God is more
likely to be kept If we know some
one else knows about it. Hannah's
vow was known to Eli the priest
eventually, and we may guess
that he suspected it from the
start. No doubt this helped her
to be faithful. So marriage VOWS
are spoken not alone in Gods
presence but in the company Of
Witnesses So vows taken at join
ing the church. or confirma tion,
are taken in front of the whole
congregation. This is why baptism,
OF child or an adult. should never
be private. II we were angels. b
promise made to God in secret
would be just as well kept as one
made in public. But since we are
human, and weak in faith, il helps
il some ear besides Gods hears
our vows.
BIASED on outlines ccpyris hted ~ the
Division Of Christian Education Ma
tisnai Council Of the Churches - Christ
In the Y. q. A. Released ~ Com n unity
Prese seryiee.l