"Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
"Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking, and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." - Genesis 28:18-22

We humans often make promises but we seldom keep them. When we are in trouble, desperate without any way out, we look towards the heavens and try to bargain with God.
Many Biblical characters down through the ages have tried to bargain with God, making promises which some kept while others did not. Scripture tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:5: "It is better not to make a promise than to make one and not keep it."
In the above text, we learn of a promise made by a young man who was leaving home to go into a strange land. He was doing so under strange circumstances. He left home because his safety was in jeopardy. His brother had sworn to revenge him for cheating him of his father's blessing.
While on his journey, during the night, the Lord visited him and made him a promise: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." [Genesis 28:15]
Consequent to this promise, Jacob sought to bargain with God in the prayer of the text. One commentator said that this prayer of Jacob is not an inspiring one. He says that Jacob was making a bargain with God after deceiving his father and cheating his brother. "A cheap prayer, if ever there was one," he writes.
The commentator might be right in his assessment. However, Jacob was a sinner like we all are. God knows our hearts. He knows whether we will keep our promises to him.
He knew the heart of Jacob, who obviously did keep his promise to God. Jacob was a man of God and he was richly blessed by the Lord.
It is true we cannot bargain with God, but we can show our appreciation to God for all of his generosity to us. He has been faithful to us and has done great things for us through Jacob, through whom our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came. He rescues us even though we are deserving of nothing.
Therefore, when we make promises to God, we should think seriously before opening our mouths. Again in Ecclesiastes 5:6 we are told, "Don't let your mouth make you sin. And don't defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved."
As we live out our lives we will encounter setbacks. We will have difficult moments and we will seek deliverance from the Lord our God. When we kneel before him in prayer, he knows our hearts and he hears our prayers.
We do not need to make ostentatious promises to him. God is not like mankind to whom we make promises that we have no intentions of keeping. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows the sincerity of our hearts.
Our simple gratitude is sufficient. We do that by living according to his word and living in love and harmony with the people around us. Yes, the good that we do in his name is sufficient. Amen.

o Rev. Samuel M. Boodle, pastor at The Lutheran Church of Nassau, can be reached at P.O. Box N 4794, Nassau, Bahamas or telephone 323-4107; E-mail: lutheranchurch@coralwave.com.

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