The Vow by Ed Gungor
The first time I heard Ed Gungor speak was when I was at Missionary Boot Camp in college getting ready to spend 6 weeks in Nigeria. He was fun and passionate about Jesus. What I remember most is his silly songs that got the college kids all riled. He was down to earth and real.
I’ve heard him speak several times over the years, and had the privilege to sit in his congregation more than once. Though it had been years since Missions Boot Camp, I fell in love with the man’s heart all over again.
His book, The Vow, is just a taste of the man and his heart for Jesus. It is a down to earth and honest read about one way he’s found to love God back. When I first heard about the book I shied away from reading it. I had just come off of Lent where I thought I had vowed into giving up something to help me draw closer to Jesus. BUT after reading this book it is easy to see that the two practices are vastly different. I came to realize that when you enter into a vow it’s not so you can nix a bad habit, or get a grasp on some illusive thing in your spiritual life. A vow is something God gives you grace to do, and something you’ve already found grace in doing.
The first half of the book explains what a vow is, why and when it was used during the time or Christ. Gungor explains about true and false vow makings. “Vows are promises to remain consistent; they are not to be used to scare ourselves into being something we are not. If you try to use vows or promises to God to make yourself a better Christian-because you are having a hard time at being consistent with your prayer life or Bible Study, or you feel guilty because you miss church because of laziness, or you are having a hard time saying “no” to sin, and so on- you are setting yourself up for failure.”
This really helped me understand that vowing for me at this time in my life is probably not a good idea. (Though I did find grace during the lent season when it came to food and it’s something I will pray about vowing to again, but it’s also something I won’t rush into.)
Gungor also says, “We vow not to try to get to the place where we can keep our word, but because we have had enough experience with grace to understand how it works. We vow to stay in the place where grace is sufficient on our behalf-where it is not in vain.”
This book has really blessed me and opened up my heart and spirit to the idea of vowing as a way to love God. I had planned on this being one post, but I can see it’s impossible to share everything at one sitting. So come back next Sunday where I will share some more thoughts on vowing.
In the meantime, I recommend you pick up your own copy and you visit Ed Gungor’s website to hear his Sunday messages.
