Early one morning Pedro decided he was going to go to the beach and dig for clams. The tide was out so the water was shallow enough that he could go further and further from the shore. He didn't pay attention to how far out he was going, but he figured he had plenty of time before the tide came in. He filled his pockets but when he couldn't fit any more he tied the bottom of his pants legs and started to stuff his pants. The problem was that the more he stuffed his pants the harder it was for him to move about freely. Then the tide started to roll in until the water was several feet above Pedro's head. He tried to swim to the surface but he was so heavy from all the clams in his pants that he was anchored to the bottom, so he tried to walk towards the shore. The clams in his pants legs made him so heavy that he could barely walk. Pedro looked up and prayed asking God that if He would deliver him from drowning he would sacrifice the 2 bulls he had in the field behind his house. Not wanting to lose all of his clams he tried in vain to walk again but then realized that if he kept struggling he was going to drown. What good is it to have all of those clams if he could never eat them? Pedro untied the cords on the bottom of his pants legs and shook all of the clams out of the bottom of his pants until he was able to move towards the shore, and not a moment too soon. As he reached the shore he began thanking God saying, "thank you Lord, for saving me, as soon as I get home I'm going to sacrifice the 2 calves I promised you ". The problem is that Pedro had promised to sacrifice 2 bulls. Did he forget or perhaps he didn't have any intention of keeping his promise. What's going on here? When he got out of the water he threw himself on the sand  and he looked up to heaven saying, "thank you Lord for saving my life". "Don't worry Lord, I'm going to sacrifice the 2 goats I promised you!" When he got home he started to feel a little guilty but thought that he should fulfill his promise anyway and prayed, "God I'm going to get the 2 chickens I promised you", but Pedro was so hungry from all the work he did earlier, and exhausted from struggle to get out of the water that he decided to roast the chickens and prepare them for his dinner. Uh oh! While the chickens were roasting he checked his pockets and found 2 clams but since he was so hungry he popped open the clam shells and ate the clams. Feeling even more guilty he held up the empty clam shells to heaven and shouted joyfully, "Here Lord, here are the empty shells I promised you"!

This makes for a really good story but Pedro is not much different from any of us. Don't a lot of us do the same kind of things? How many empty promises have you made before the Lord when you knew that you had no intention of fulfilling them? OUCH! Sounds good when you are in a pinch. As soon as the trouble passes we forget the promises we make not realizing that we are being held to these promises. Did you ever wonder why you don't seem to be getting anywhere? Why the finances never seem to be enough to meet all your needs? Did you ever promise God that if he got you a good job that you would give him the tithe? That's just one example, but could it be that those empty promises have you bound to them? Think about it. What vows have you made that you haven't kept? Have you ever promised something to a loved one, and failed to do it? How did they feel when they expected something and didn't get it? Then when they remind us we get defensive and evasive. Have you ever borrowed money and promised to pay it back by a certain day? Then when that day came and you don't have the money to pay you duck and hide while trying to conjure up a cheap excuse. How does it feel when someone makes you a promise and doesn't keep it? Doesn't feel good, does it? Sometimes its not as complicated as saying the words "I promise". It could be as simple as making a commitment to do something for someone or in the church and not doing it after some time. God may be still holding you to your commitment. Its foolish to think that we can just say any old thing and not be held accountable for it. Its better to keep our mouths shut sometimes than to make some commitment just to look good in front of people. Then when things don't go your way you want to quit. Just because something doesn't go your way doesn't release you from a commitment. OUCH! The only release we have from a commitment is to do the thing we said we were going to do until it is no longer required for us to do it, or the person we made the commitment to releases us from the commitment. We need to repent of these things because in the sight of God it is like signing a contract. We need to confess our faults and go before the people we made commitments to or before God and ask forgiveness. Why should you continue to struggle with something you may have forgotten? God doesn't forget and we reap what we sow. Everything we say or do is affected by the law of sowing and reaping. A lot of our troubles are the results of our reaping. Break those old habits and the old dope fiend behavior. You can't manipulate God. Be true to God and to yourself and ask God to help you not to make commitments you can't keep. REPENT!