God’s Rules Apply Forever

I’ve been thinking about the way life works. I have started to believe we need to re-learn the fundamental principles that were known and applied by ancient peoples in the Middle East. It seems that they understood the guiding forces of the universe much better than we do, and as a result, they knew how to get blessed and stay free of curses.

This morning I thought about the concept of promises. There are a lot of different ways to say “promise.” You can say “contract,” “agreement,” “covenant,”, or “debt.” It all works out the same. One or more parties obligate themselves, and from then on, they carry the weight they put on their own backs.

Jesus told us not to swear oaths (another way of saying “promises”). Why is that? It’s because the instant you make a promise, you put a hook in your own nose, and Satan will look for a way to tie a strong chain to it and lead you to unexpected places. Satan loves driving us to break promises, and he loves torturing us with the promises we keep.

Consider the example of Jephtha, the rebel leader in the Bible. God’s hand was on him for victory, but he ruined it with a promise. One day he promised God that he would sacrifice whatever he saw coming out of his front door. As he approached his house, his daughter came out to meet him. Tradition says hostile priests refused to allow him to cancel the promise, and they forced him to sacrifice his daughter to God. But for the rash promise, this would never have happened.

Today we make dumb promises all the time. I can think of two, right off the bat. Marriage vows and agreements to pay money.

It probably sounds anti-Christian to criticize marriage vows, but think about it: aren’t they a little excessive? I doubt the first marriages were this complicated. You probably made a public announcement of your intentions, got yourself blessed by a holy man, and went on your way. That was enough of a challenge, all by itself. But over time, we ended up piling promises on ourselves. The ancient Jews actually used contracts to spell out the obligations of the parties; some Jews still do this.

Satan is real, and he hates marriage. What do you think he does when he sees you promise a bunch of stuff to your new husband or wife? Unless he’s a fool, he makes a list, and he starts attacking the promises one by one. A married couple resembles God in its completeness, and Satan hates that. Also, a married couple is much stronger supernaturally than two single people. So Satan likes to pull us apart. And what can cause you more suffering than a bad relationship? It’s hard to think of anything.

Personally, I would not make promises at the altar, apart from the basics. Why invite trouble? The promises aren’t going to help you be a good mate. You’re not going to keep a list of them in your pocket, the way your enemy does, and refer to it to see you through. It’s just a set of goals for the devil.

I think wedding rings, which symbolize promises, are probably dangerous. Any man can tell you that the best way to attract women is to get into a relationship. When you have a wife or girlfriend, suddenly, women find you much more attractive. And you can actually increase your luck at singles bars by wearing a ring. Some men wear rings just to help them get women. And women are also attracted to men carrying babies! Why are these things true? I think it’s because the ring is an open challenge to Satan. He has plenty of trashy little servants out there looking for men, and he will send them after you.

As for agreements to pay money, the Bible says the borrower is the servant of the lender. How true that is. Think of America and China. We’re financing their military buildup so they can take over as the world’s leading power. When they decide to take Taiwan, we won’t make a peep. I guarantee it. From then on, we’ll be the laughingstock of the world.

The vast majority of Americans don’t own their cars or homes; they make monthly payments to banks. How crazy is that? Some people think a car loan or a mortgage note is a sign of God’s favor. You’ll never convince me of that. It’s a piece of paper that says another person can take what you have, and that you have to work for that person every day in order to pay him more than the true value of your property. How is that a blessing? There are bums on the street who are worth more than doctors, because the doctors have debts, and the bums don’t.

When you owe money, you have to do whatever it takes to earn it, or you end up in the street. Think of the opportunities for temptation. If your business is based on debt, are you going to be strong when things go badly and you have an opportunity to improve your cash flow by committing a sin? Will you be able to keep your hands out of the till? Will you be able to tell the tax man the truth? Many, many people are in prison because they were in debt and took a few chances in order to get out. Think of John DeLorean.

The other day I saw an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. He worked on an Italian restaurant up north. The place was in real trouble, and the owner was blowhard and a risk-taker. Ramsay fixed his menu and got him pointed in the right direction. I Googled his restaurant, out of curiosity. After Ramsay left, he was indicted for money-related crimes. His life is ruined now.

The weird thing about debt is that so much of it is unnecessary. I have a crummy cell phone and the worst plan I can get by with, but I know a lot of poor people who have Iphones and fancy plans. Last week I was in the ghetto, and I saw a BMW 745 parked in front of a house which is probably worth $60,000 on a good day. We don’t spend the money we have. We spend the money we hope to earn in the future, and we pay huge interest to do it. And we spend it on silly things we don’t need. We even spend it on things that harm us, like video games and giant TVs.

Somehow, Americans have gotten used to the idea that it’s normal to inflate their own money by going into overwhelming debt. Instead of spending $75 for a serviceable cell phone today, a typical American will spend over a thousand over the next two years, for a ridiculous phone that does things that are of virtually no value. We think mortgages are normal. They’re not. There is nothing intelligent about putting another person in charge of your home. The Bible says the blessed will own the gates of their enemies. If you have a mortgage, your enemy possesses YOUR gate. Literally. In the Bible, one of the worst things that can happen to people is foreclosure. It’s a curse which is mentioned often. Again, think of China.

You can pull out a spreadsheet and show me how debt will work out in your favor in the end, for this reason and that reason. That’s earthly wisdom. And it’s all based on assumptions regarding your future prosperity. If your eggs don’t hatch, where will you be? Are you going to eat that spreadsheet? Can you put it on the grill and serve it to your kids? The Bible says you shouldn’t talk about the money you’re going to make, unless you say “God willing.” You don’t even know if you’re going to wake up tomorrow.

In the book of Nehemiah, while the Jews rebuilt Jerusalem, a number of them went into debt. Other Jews lent them money to survive. When they couldn’t pay, the debtors had to sell their children. Promises turned into chains, as they so often do. But for Nehemiah’s intervention, the debtors would have had no recourse. Fortunately for them, he convinced the wealthy to relent.

I don’t make promises any more, unless I can’t avoid it. And I can tell I’m not like most people. If I’m in a group of people, and someone asks for help with something, very often, I’ll be among the last to commit. But the people who jump up and raise their hands at the outset…they don’t show up when it’s time to back up their mouths. I do. I may look selfish for not committing easily, and maybe I am, but it’s also because I know that when I open my mouth, I’m serious. It’s easy to obligate yourself when everyone knows you won’t follow through. When you take what you say seriously, it’s a lot harder to speak.

I’ve broken plenty of promises in my life. I don’t want to continue living that way. When God speaks, everything he says is true, and everything he says he will do, will be done. We should be the same way. God’s words are not vain, and we are supposed to be like God. Our words should not be vain, either. And the best way to avoid making your words vain is to avoid uttering them.

I am going to try to avoid putting new chains on my back. I think I carry enough already.