Promise

The prayer ring on my finger (1): a promise to love my Lord, to pray for the unreached.

The power of promise--it is promise that shapes our identity.

Not our feelings--for they change.

Not our dreams--for they aren’t yet.

Not our achievements, actions, failures--for they are but the visible manifestations of the heart  of promises.

It is our promises that are made in the past, commit us in the present, and project into the future that form us. Promises that express the desire of our heart, forge the pleasures of our heart. The silver ring is polished in the wearing; so promises are polished by the daily little decisions that spring from it and reinforce it. For those outside of Christ, their self-made promises rest on human frailty, but still the image of the Promise-Making, Promise-Keeping, Covenant God. Like the empty middle of the ring, but human breath fills the promise. For those in Christ, our promises are part of a larger circle of God’s promises. The living power of God in the Spirit energizes our promises.

Father, you have promised yourself to us in Christ by the Spirit. The Triune God has committed himself to us--the Spirit the engagement ring, the deposit, the guarantee, the firstfruits (Eph. 1:14; 2 Cor. 1:22; Rom. 8:23). I promise to serve you, love you, make your name known. I can promise to you only because of the promise Christ has made to me and the concurrent promise he has made to you, Father. I can promise only because of Jesus’ promise of faithfulness to you! And only because of his promise to me.

The promise my Redeemer makes to me come from the promise he makes to you--for he has promised to be faithful to you and to carry out redemption as you promise to glorify him and exalt him in the Spirit (John 17:1-5). The promise he makes to you is on my behalf as my High Priest--his promise my promise, this promise springs from the promise he made to me. What wonder, what ring of love. What mystery of Triune unity I am caught in.

My promise is part of your promise, founded on your promise. So with all of me, with all of the Spirit, I promise to you. For it takes God to love God, my Holy Spirit. 

(1) You won't always see me wearing it always because jewelry annoys me so! Which makes it an effective reminder. And as soon as the reminder effect wears off, I pause until it is refreshed or choose a new reminder. Right now its a ring. Also, the thoughts in this blog post are shaped by Timothy J. Keller and Kathy Keller. The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God. New York: Dutton, 2011 and their cited article by Lewis B. Smedes, “Controlling the Unpredictable—The Power of Promising.”