SOMEONE once said, “Promises are only as strong as the person who gives them”

As an experiment I googled “promises of Jesus” and came up with over two hundred.

For example, “Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.”

“Ask, and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened”

“The person who comes to me I will in no way turn away.”

The promise to the bandit crucified with Jesus, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus’ last words to his disciples following his resurrection, “I will be with you always, to the end of time”.

Jesus’ life and teaching were packed full of promises.

You test the validity of a promise by assessing the character of the person who makes the promise.

If one of those emails arrived promising a million pounds, you would think twice (I hope) before trusting that promise. But if it was my birthday and my wife said: “I promise to make you something you really like for tea”, then I would spend the whole day looking forward to it.

Jesus’ promises were perfectly backed up by his character

It was said of the disgraced President Nixon, “Would you buy a used car from this man?”

People seemed instinctively knew that they could buy a used car, or the first century equivalent, from Jesus.

If we believe now that Jesus is the human face of the eternal God, who is perfect love and who holds everything in his hands, then we can trust his promises to the utmost.

The Rev John Peet,

Vicar of Cononley with Bradley and Minister in the Airedale Circuit