Sacredness of Vows
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and I knew it not.” He looked about him as if expecting to see the
heavenly messengers; but only the dim outline of earthly objects, and
the heavens above, brilliant with the gems of light, met his earnest,
wondering gaze. The ladder and the bright messengers were gone, and
the glorious Majesty above it he could see only in imagination.
Jacob was awed with the deep stillness of the night and with the
vivid impression that he was in the immediate presence of God. His
heart was full of gratitude that he was not destroyed. There was no
more sleep for him that night; gratitude deep and fervent, mingled
with holy joy, filled his soul. “And Jacob rose up early in the morning,
and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a
pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.” And here he made his solemn
vow to God.
Jacob made his vow while refreshed by the dews of grace and
invigorated by the presence and assurance of God. After the divine
glory had passed away, he had temptations, like men in our time, but
he was faithful to his vow and would not harbor thoughts as to the
possibility of being released from the pledge which he had made. He
might have reasoned much as men do now, that this revelation was
only a dream, that he was unduly excited when he made his vow, and
that therefore it need not be kept; but he did not.
Long years intervened before Jacob dared to return to his own
country, but when he did he faithfully discharged his debt to his Master.
He had become a wealthy man, and a very large amount of property
passed from his possessions to the treasury of the Lord.
Many in our day fail where Jacob made a success. Those to whom
God has given the greatest amount have the strongest inclination to
retain what they have, because they must give a sum proportionate
to their property. Jacob gave the tenth of all that he had, and then
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reckoned the use of the tenth, and gave the Lord the benefit of that
which he had used for his own interest during the time he was in a
heathen land and could not pay his vow. This was a large amount, but
he did not hesitate; that which he had vowed to God he did not regard
as his, but as the Lord’s.
According to the amount bestowed will be the amount required.
The larger the capital entrusted, the more valuable is the gift which
God requires to be returned to Him. If a Christian has ten or twenty
thousand dollars, God’s claims are imperative upon him, not only to