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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
"A Lick and a Promise . . . "
My Mom had a secular job most of my growing-up-years. As a result, when company was coming she had less time to clean and prepare for them. She would say, “I’ll give it a lick and a promise,” meaning “I’ll do the best I can right now, and promise to finish the cleaning later.”
She was a very good housekeeper, but the “promise” part often took longer than she intended. That’s when I learned to dust the furniture, vacuum the floor and iron my shirts.
These many years later, our time is so taken with events we consider important, we sometimes have to give some matters just a “lick and a promise.” In a Christian’s life, some of those promises touch thoughts and deeds God demands of us, and the promises may never be fulfilled. You know what happens, don’t you. We realign our priorities. We decide that some promises are more important than others.
That may make a lot of sense in peripheral matters, matters that are less significant, but some “promises” must be given greater priority than others—such as you made when you became a Christian. It will never be right to give matters of the Kingdom a “lick and a promise.”
Do your Christian obligations get more than a “lick and a promise”? You may not want me to tell you, but that “won’t get it done.” God will never accept such lukewarm “commitments.” In Colossians 3:23, we read: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
Has your determination to tell a friend or neighbor about Christ and His church fallen by the wayside? Have you been “putting off” the promise you made to yourself to be more involved in talking to your friends about the truly important things in life?
A PROMISE TO BE MORE FAITHFUL
Has your dedication to Christ become more haphazard, less consistent? Is it easier for you to neglect the assembly, the worship of Jehovah? Have you been able to find excuses for not studying your Bible? For not talking to your children about the Bible and what it means to them? Just a “lick and a promise” to God has never been enough—and we all know it. Why not promise yourself, your family and God that you will be more faithful to the commitment you made when you became a Christian. You will never regret it.
A PROMISE TO DO YOUR PART
In 1 Corinthians 12, the Holy Spirit describes a human body in which the various organs do not function as they should. If you have ever had a physical malfunction, you know how big a problem that is.
The point in that chapter is that each member of the church has a function to perform. What happens to a physical body will then happen to Christ’s body. The work of the “body” is hindered. Things that should have been done—are not done because you and I, and others like us do not do our part. Why not make the promise today that you will give more than a “lick and a promise” in the Lord’s service?
A PROMISE TO BE MORE POSITIVE
It is so easy to become negative about life. “Everything is going wrong.” “No one cares about anyone else.” “Everyone is out to get me.” When we have this attitude, those around us realize that we no longer believe that God’s promises are true. He promised “I will be with you always,” Matthew 28:20. He also promised there will always be a way to escape the devil’s temptations, 1 Corinthians 10:13. But when we are weighed down with negative, pessimistic attitudes, we say to the world that we believe God is a liar.
A PROMISE TO GIVE MORE
It seems that our society today is so focused upon “things” that we can forget our obligations to the lost, to the poor, to those who need our attention. Yes, God commands that we give of our income, and this congregation has been so generous.
However, the most precious thing we can give to others is our time. Do you take time to talk to fellow Christians? Time to really listen? To respond? To help? It will never be enough merely to put dollars in the collection plate. God commended the Macedonian Christians for their generosity, their willingness to encourage, to help. It is obvious when we give only a “lick and a promise” to the needs of others.
If you think I sound like an expert on this subject, I am. I find myself doing this very same thing, giving only a “lick and a promise” to the most important work in the world. Let’s help each other to do more for the Lord this year.
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“The moral uneasiness of our time—in politics, in economics, family life, even in our churches— is due to this key fact: the older values and codes of uprightness no longer grip us, nor have they been replaced by new values and codes which lend moral meaning to the life-routines we must now follow.”
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,”
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When Does God NOT Mean What He Says?
If what we are hearing in some circles is true, the answer to the above question would be: “Whenever the subject of grace enters the picture.”
You probably thought that one must be baptized in order to be saved since that is what the Son of God taught, along with the inspired writers who wrote the Bible (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21). But now, we are being told that to teach the essentiality of baptism for salvation is to be legalistic – even though the Bible teaches it.
You also probably thought that repentance is necessary for salvation since that is what Christ taught (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30-31). But supposedly only self-righteous people now teach that, because grace covers all our mistakes.
Perhaps you also thought that faith is absolutely required of mankind in order to be saved (John 8:24; Hebrews 11:6), but even faith is a work (John 6:29), and that would bring us back to the legalistic charge being hurled once again!
However, since the works that God demands of us are not the meritorious works of men, then we are still obligated to work the works of God. No, we cannot earn our salvation, but doing what God says is not earning salvation – it is loving the Lord (John 14:16; Luke 6:46). Since Paul taught that we are not to “continue in sin, that grace may abound” (Romans 6:1-2), we had better just keep on trying to obey God, truly relying upon the grace of God instead of accepting man’s perverted version of a cheap grace that makes no demands (Titus 2:11-12). Cheap grace ultimately leads to universalism!
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