Do you look for guarantees? Do you purchase the additional warranty on electronic items or vehicles? Do you desire promises to be kept? Do you always keep the promises you make? Do you know there are promises that are always kept?
We do want guarantees, warranties, and promises kept. If fact, if a business attempts to find a loophole in a warranty, we get upset and fight to hold them accountable. We believe certain people or things should be dependable, something we can count on.
There is someone we can count on—God. He always keeps His promises. For instance, looking at today’s passage, Jesus tells us that where two or three gather, He is there with them. He also states, if we agree with one another, God will grant it. Unfortunately, we often take this promise out of context.
Let’s say we were to promise to buy our kids ice cream on our way home from a baseball game. We would not stop to buy ice cream on the way home from the store. Nor would we stop to buy ice cream on the way home from work. It would only be after the baseball game. The same holds true for God’s promises.
Jesus has just told the Apostle’s how to deal with sin within the church. He goes into a little detail about how to deal with someone who won’t own up to having done a brother or sister wrong. At that point He makes the statements in today’s passage. In other words, He didn’t say everything we agree on will be granted. We cannot simply agree to spend millions of dollars to build a new building because we think it is a good idea and expect God to give us the money.
When does this apply? It applies when we are in tune with God, when we have spent time in prayer, when we have honestly sought God’s will and come to agreement that we are going about His will. God’s promises can be trusted. We just cannot take them out of context.
I pray we all trust in God’s promises. I pray we ensure we read them within the context they were made. I pray each one of us seek to follow His will so that we experience His promises in action. Trust God’s promises. Read His promises in context. Seek God’s will. Spend time in prayer. Spend time contemplating. Spend time meditating. Experience God at work.
Matthew 18:19-20 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Marty Pressey 