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In this teaching of Christ, we see the foolishness of man in vowing to do things and swearing by those things that he mentioned, that we will give them up or have something done to us if we fail to keep those vows. All things are ultimately in the hands of our Creator, we are but clay, he is the potter and if we give our lives to him, he has that final say.

Vows can be positive, that is, that we will do something or negative, that is to abstain from doing something. Nowhere in the Bible do we find that the Lord ever demanded “Thou shalt vow this or that” but always put the onus back on the people. “If thou shouldst make a vow” or “When thou vowest etc”. then let such vow be observed. We see the onus is on us. Even in the law period, having made the vow, every effort was then to be made to fulfil it, lest a slight would be put upon God, and a stain on the conscience of the worshipper. Ecclesiastes 5:5, “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”

Vows even unto the law were entirely voluntary, and we see many cases recorded where vows and oaths were prevalent at the time Christ was on earth. That is why He gave us the text, so that in the Christian period that stood before the people, these same mistakes would not be made.

We today, as Christians, also have vows in the Church. Vows at Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordinations etc. All of these are voluntary and not forced upon anyone and in conformity to Christ’s teaching, and the acknowledgement of our own short fallings, all vows are answered by a simple Yes, and then followed by “So help me God”. These are the most important words of “any vow, for we acknowledge that it is only with the help of God, that we can expect to even attempt to fulfil them. If in our life we forget those words and forget to call on help from God through His Spirit and we try to go it alone, we will be doomed to failure but if we believe as written in Luke 1:37, “For with God nothing shall be impossible. “and remember firstly those things that we have committed with a Yea and think more sincerely about the prayer we offered at that time “So help me Go” We will obtain a better understanding of our text and be strengthened.