The Responsibility

     This morning I was cleaning the gunk out of my wedding ring and it got me thinking about something. Just a little over two years ago, I wrote about The Promise. My Love had just asked me to be his wife and I had a beautiful, new, diamond ring on my left hand. I wrote about how, just like a diamond ring symbolizes the promise of forever, The One who breathes life into our very souls has given us a promise. A promise, to save us, love us, and keep us.
      As I looked at my ring and scrubbed away the soap scum and dirt, it occurred to me that just as I needed to occasionally give my ring a good cleaning, so also, I must take care of the Promise from the Creator of my soul. You see, promises come with responsibility. The responsibility to guard them. Just like my ring collects grime and thus looses its true shine, so too can a promise. The Lover of my soul has promised to be with me always, but when I allow fear, doubt, carelessness, or whatever sneak into my life, I allow a build up to dull the shine of The Promise.
     Now, this does not mean to say that the promise is any less true. Just because my wedding ring may not shine as brightly due to crud, does not make it any less precious. It is still a diamond set in gold. Nothing can change that fact. It may not shine as brightly as the day it was placed on my finger, but that has nothing to do with the love my husband has for me or with the state of our relationship, it simply means that I have failed to take care of it.
     The same is true of The Promise that I have received from the One who calls my name. He is steady and His promises are rock solid. But how have I done with my responsibility of taking care of the promise? All too often, I let fear and doubt cloud the shine. I fail to trust Him and soon I take a look at the promise and begin to panic. I panic because it has become cloudy and I fear that He has, just maybe, stopped caring. Just maybe, He has given up on me. However, just as a diamond is always a diamond, dirty or not, so too is His promise. It never changes.
     And so, it is our responsibility to guard our promises. Be it the promise between a husband and wife to love on another till death or the beautiful promise we have received from the One who died for us, we need to guard it. To make sure that we don't allow anything to dull their shine.
    And so today, If you are struggling with fears or doubts, if something has crept in to dull the shine of your  promise, I challenge you to take a stand. Realize that though you may not see the sparkle right now, The Promise has not changed. A diamond is still and always will be a diamond, gunk or not. Polish with faith and dust with trust, and before you know it the sparkle of The Promise will once again dance. Happy Saturday.

"God never made a promise that was too good to be true." ~Dwight L. Moody

Psalm 145:13-14
"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down."

2 Corinthians 1:20-22
"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."