Promises Made

The political promise is almost a cliche.  When people are running for office, in either party, they are full of promises.  I will do this and I will do that.  But when they get into office, reality is another story.  Now I realize that sometimes the situation changes or the opposition party blocks your plan, but it seems like more should get fulfilled.  It is so bad that there are websites like politifact.com that monitor promises from politicians and how they are being fulfilled.

There's an old joke that goes like this.  A politician dies and he's met in the afterlife.  He is told that he will be shown Heaven and Hell and then choose where he will spend eternity.  He is taken to Hell.  When the elevator door opens he sees a lovely country club golf course.  A fine meal is being served, there is a party going on and it looks like fun.  Then they go to Heaven.  It also looks great.  The clouds and the streets of gold and the angles singing all like he imagined.  Then he was told to choose.  He thought about it and said, "Don't get me wrong, Heaven looks great, but Hell looks like so much  fun.  I can't believe I'm saying this but I guess that I'll choose Hell.  So down he goes, the elevator door opens and he sees a barren wasteland.  With fire and brimstone and the screams of the tortured.  Our politician looks at the Devil and says, "This isn't what it looked like before." The Devil says, "That was the campaign, but now you've voted."

We like guarantees, things that we can believe in.  We like to know that more than death and taxes are certain in our future.  I am not sure if more people lie today than in the past, or if it's easier to catch.  I met a person once who was telling me about his time playing in the NFL.  The stories were really interesting.  Later on I found myself wondering if he was any good. So I did a google search and discovered there was no record of him playing in the NFL.  

The FBI estimates that for every former Navy Seal, there are 300 impostors who claim to have been a seal, but never were.  There is so little to believe in today.

This is what makes the promises of God so important.  In a world where we need more than death and taxes to measure certainty, we have God's promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.  The 23rd Psalm promises that I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Now there is something to rely on.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lloyd.

God promises blessings today and salvation for eternity.  Now there is a 100% guarantee.