What does God promise us?

When my parents became Christians they instituted a family devotions time after the evening meal. Dad had purchased a ‘Promise Box,’ a round box filled with little slips of paper each rolled into a cylinder shape. We all took turns with some tweezers to pull out a promise and read it to the family. Of the 100 promises, I often got to find the one that was slightly torn so I’d pull it out and read, “If anyone lacks wisdom let them ask God who gives generously to all…

Much of life is held together by promises. We promise to love, to be faithful, to care for one another, to keep going when things become difficult.

Some promises we keep faithfully; others we break, sometimes through weakness, sometimes through circumstances beyond our control.

The Bible speaks not only about the promises we make, but about the promises God makes to us.

Our promises are an expression of our commitment: “I will be there. I will be faithful. I will not give up.”

God’s promises are an expression of God’s character: “I will never leave you. I will be with you. I will forgive you. I will give you life. I will make all things new.”

Our promises depend upon our faithfulness. God’s promises depend upon God’s faithfulness.

In our ‘Listening to the Spirit’ series on The Letters to the Seven Churches, we’ve reached the part in each letter where God makes a promise to the church. Usually they are conditional—if you do this, then I will do that. The promises are usually written in imagery from each city and they promise what is lacking or weak in the church.

As we come to this point in writing our letter to the Church at Box Hill, what is it that God might promise us? What do we need to address what we lack? How could we write this in the images and language of Box Hill that we all might understand?

Geoff Pound.