Daily Devotional
Standing By What You Say And Do
Text: Matthew 5:37
“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”
Message
The exact meaning of our today’s verse is much disputed. One reading is that one should simply answer requests with yes or no, and that anything extra, such as oaths, results in evil.
James 5:12 says, “let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no.”
This is to say that when it comes to telling the truth, we shouldn’t need anything else except our word.
In this vein Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, “It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.”
Why did Jesus say let your yes be yes?
He is saying that “every yes and every no must be as truthful as if you just swore it on a stack of Bibles on network television.” Every yes and every no is observed, because God is the creator and is present with us. This is a radical principle of truthfulness that Jesus teaches us.
Explaining in other words
Ephesians 4 25 says,
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
Now, standing by what we say and do is worth pondering! Most of us fail in this! Many of us can say and do but will not stand by what we say and do.
Truth is, you are not a Christian if you cannot stand by what you say and do.
Ephesians 4:29 advice, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
To stand by what you say and do is truth, honesty and integrity personified.
It is standing within the boundary of it is written and the scripture cannot be broken.
It is writing in the dark what you want to be read in the open.
The team of Engineers who designed, developed and installed the braking system in the Leopard Tank in Germany recently stood confidently to test the efficiency of the tank’s brakes, with their backs to the approaching tank. Amazing you said? But more than that may I ask you if you will stand by what you say and do?
Can you confidently defend your actions, views, belief and position no matter the risk to you?
Coming home dry and square, can you confidently defend your actions, views, belief and position in Christ Jesus no matter the risk to you? Until you can am afraid that you are not yet a disciple of Jesus and Devil stands, your father.
Standing on yes or no on the side of what is the truth guarantees your safety much more when in defence of the gospel and your unfailing faith in Jesus Christ.
Luke 10:19 assures, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing [no-thing] will injure you.”
May God increase our faith, standing and doing his will in Jesus Name.
Amen.