One of the greatest things we can give another person is our word. It is easy to give & some people are very generous with their word, promising the sun, moon & stars but you can’t rely on them, they don’t really mean it. It is painful to be let down by someone who have failed to keep their word.

There are others who are slow to give a promise, they don’t make them easily, but when they do, you can rely on them to honour it, it’s a pleasure to deal with such people.

In Jesus’ story, he is not holding up either son as an ideal, one son said “Yes” straight away, but didn’t go, the other said “No” at first but changed is mind. But we learn something from each. The son who said he would go but didn’t is an act of warning. We call ourselves Christians but are sometimes accused of being hypocrites because our lives do not bear witness to the faith with profess with our lips. Sin does not necessarily imply doing something wrong, doing nothing is the sub of inactivity, but the greatest sin is not to do good. The second son, said “No” but changed his mind. To change one’s mind is generally seen as a fault or a weakness, but that isn’t always the case, it takes humility to admit one’s mistakes & courage to put it right.

The parable teaches us that promises can never tale the place of performance & fine words can never be a substitute for fine deeds.

Faithfulness is one of the greatest & necessary things in life. But it is costly & not an easy road. It demands unselfishness & a sprit if sacrifice. But even here on earth it brings great rewards in terms of growth, serenity & joy. There are no rewards for the unfaithful, no happiness at the end of the day for those who give their word but fail to honour it. But there is great joy for those who do keep their promises.

It is said that a person is as good as his word. If that’s true then the question that we must ask ourselves is: “How good is my Word?”

The person who makes a vow or a promise makes an appointment with himself at some distant time or place.