Let Your Yes be Yes
“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and let your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Matthew 5:37 KNJV
I remember being devastated as a young child when one of my teachers at the daycare I attended didn’t keep her word to me—at least at first. I don’t know why she picked me, but one of the teachers saw my love of Barbie dolls and told me she had a special Barbie doll, a collector’s edition, that she would bring in for me. I was so excited! There were few things I loved more than Barbie dolls!
I was actually excited to go to school the next day—my new Barbie doll would be there! But it wasn’t. My teacher had forgotten it. She was sorry and said that she would bring it the next day. I eagerly went to school the next day and found—no Barbie. It went on like this for what seemed like an eternity (but I’m sure was only a week or 2) when I finally began to give up hope. I realized that I might never get that Barbie doll. Then, one day my teacher arrived with the bag in hand! She had finally remembered the Barbie doll and my hope was restored! My teacher finally came through on her word!
There have been bigger things in the years since that people have said, done, or promised me that haven’t come to fruition. I’m chagrined to admit I have probably inadvertently done this to others as well. But I really remember the disappointment of not getting my Barbie right away and then the joy when she was finally given to me!
This reminds me (on a much lesser scale) of the story of Joseph in the Bible. Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers. Offense Number 1. Joseph was sold to Potiphar, one of the most powerful men in Egypt. He worked his way up to being the head of Potiphar’s household only to be falsely accused of attacking Potiphar’s wife. Joseph was thrown in jail. Offense Number 2. While there, Joseph worked his way up yet again, as an overseer of the other prisoners. One day Joseph interprets the dreams of two of the prisoners, one was the chief cupbearer to Pharaoh. Joseph says the dream means that the cupbearer will be restored to his post. Joseph asks the cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh which the cupbearer promises to do. What really happens? The cupbearer forgets. Offense Number 3.
Can you imagine how Joseph must have waited with bated breath, thinking that the cupbearer would remember his word and Joseph would find himself freed from the cell in which he was being wrongfully kept—only to have those hopes slip lower, and lower, day after day. I wonder if he felt bitter. He had done the cupbearer a huge favor interpreting his dream—how could the little weasel forget him?
Joseph was probably about out of hope when suddenly the jail door opens, and Joseph is taken out, cleaned up, and presented before Pharaoh as possibly the only man in all the kingdom who could help Pharaoh out by interpreting his bothersome dream. The cupbearer had finally come through!
Joseph was finally freed—that’s the part we all remember about the story, but what about his days of agony waiting, desperately hoping that the cupbearer would keep his word? I imagine that the cupbearer felt more than a little guilty when he finally remembered Joseph! I don’t want to play the part of the cupbearer in people’s lives. I want to be the one who keeps their word. The Bible tells us to let our yes be yes and our no be no. How often do we say something only to forget about it, and when we remember we justify our inaction by telling ourselves that the other person probably forgot everything we said to them? But would they? Would you?
Think about your own life—have you been devastated by someone breaking their word to you? Do you want to inflict that same pain on someone else? Let us endeavor to be the people who can be counted on to do what we say when we say we will.
