Why is it a snare to devote something to be holy and then change our mind?

Question:

50.3—“It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, and afterward to reconsider his vows” (Proverbs 20:25).

Does this directly apply to expressions that refer to cows, or any other things, as holy?  Of course, Harry Carey made it clear that he was saying HOLEY cow…hence the cow with holes in it on his desk.  🙂



Answer:

50.3—This verse from Proverbs is not merely Solomon’s reasoning based on what he saw “under the sun” as is true in Ecclesiastes, but it is a warning not to devote something to God, then later change our minds or be unable to fulfill what we promised. We should not make a man an offender for a word, but God does! He says: “If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth” (Numbers 30:2). God holds us accountable for anything (even a cow) that we say we are going to dedicate to Him.