I enjoy watching the buoyant mood as two people stand before me to make their vows, especially if they are in their early twenty’s. They stare into each other’s eyes like they are staring at heaven itself. They each share their vows with gusto, optimism and enthusiasm: “I …take you… to be my husband/ wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death us do part according to God’s holy law and this is my solemn vow.” I find myself thinking. “Do they have no clue about the gravity of what they are saying?”

As good as the people’s pledge sounded in Joshua 1:16-17 when they answered Joshua; “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.” , they too had no idea about the gravity of the words they were saying. No wonder they stumbled over those words so many times.

Lord help us to honor our commitments. Help us to let our Yes be Yes and our No be No.