ETERNAL REST GIVE UNTO THEM, O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM. AMEN.
A vow is a voluntary promise made to God, and a new obligation which a person imposes on himself to do some good action. In addition to all that is prescribed by the natural law and by the statute law of God in the Old and New Testament, we have the power of creating a new law or obligation for ourselves in honour of God, just as we have the power to bind ourselves by contract in secular matters to do certain services or to forego certain rights. A vow gives an additional character of sanctity to a good action. It is one of the chief classes of service which fall under the virtue of Religion. The act therefore which is vowed becomes doubly virtuous; it has its own character of patience, or generosity, or obedience, and it has the acquired character of an act of religion. Vows hold an important position in the religious systems of the Old and New Dispensations. Special regulations concerning their observance were laid down by the law of Moses, and we find the practice confirmed by the example of the Apostles under the New Law. Such a promise is a most sacred kind of contract. In Scripture we read that "It is ruin to a man . . . after vows to retract" (Prov. xx. 25). And again, "When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it, because the Lord thy God will require it" (Deut. xxiii. 21). Be careful about the promises you make to God. Do not make them lightly; fulfil them exactly.
