This theme of God as a promise keeper stirs a childhood memory. When I was around twelve years old, I tagged along with my father as he went to buy new tires for the family car. Dad was from a small town and simpler times. He was unadorned of fancy dress or wealth. He was a reliable oil field mechanic who loved his family, paid his bills, and kept his word. He was insulted by those who doubted his integrity. He was certainly insulted that day in the tire shop.

He selected the tires, and we waited as they were being mounted. When it came time to pay the bill, I stood by Dad’s side at the counter as he wrote the check. The salesclerk looked at the check and then requested that my father produce some identification. Such a practice is common and unquestioned today, but in the 1960s a merchant seldom asked for verification.

Dad was taken aback.

“You don’t believe I am who that check says I am?”

The clerk was embarrassed. “We require this of all customers.”

“Do you think I am dishonest?”

“It’s not that, sir.”

“If you don’t think I am good for my word, you can remove those tires.”

I remember a long moment of awkward silence as the clerk weighed his options.

We went home with the tires. And I went home with a lesson on integrity. Good people are serious about keeping their word. How much more serious would a good God be? What was said about God’s faithfulness to Israel can be said about his faithfulness to us. “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled” (Josh. 21:45).

The question is not, will God keep his promises, but, will we build our lives upon them?

Max Lucado, Unshakable Hope: Building Our Lives on the Promises of God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2018).

I have just completed a 7 Week Bible Study Lesson Series on Max Lucado’s book Unshakable Hope. It is available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions, as well as part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription plan. The idea is to invite each participant to purchase their own book.

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