When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.    Genesis 15:17 HCSB

A pinky promise is a binding commitment. According to a website called Her Campus from Tulane University, the pinky promise originated in Japan where it is known as yubikiri which means “finger cut off”. This signifies that should a person break this promise they have their pinky finger cut off. It has come to mean a more casual promise these days.

Now our Scripture passage for today is describing a ritual that may seem a bit odd to us. But this ritual signified a very serious commitment. If animals were cut in half and the two people in the commitment walked through them, it signified that they were completely devoted to keeping up their end of the bargain and if they failed to do so, they would be cut in half. In our Scripture passage God has promised Abram that he would be the father of a great nation. God came in the form of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch and walked through the animals alone. This signified that He was making this promise to Abram. Abram had no conditions placed on Him.

Now some of us are people of our word. So, if we make a promise, we keep our word. We keep our promises. We don’t need to pinky promise to seal the deal.

Others may not be so devoted to keeping their promise and whether they pinky promise or walk through animals cut in two they still don’t take it seriously.

Now I have to tell you that I take a pinky promise seriously. I take any promise seriously. But as an animal lover, if animals lost their lives in order for me to show my devotion and dedication to a commitment, and I ran the risk of the same happening to me, I would take that very seriously. Nothing short of death would stop me from keeping that commitment.

The interesting thing here is that God walked through alone as fire. God was making the commitment to Abram. There was nothing for Abram to do at this time. This was God’s promise to him. God is telling Abram that he will be the father of the Israelite nation. These will be God’s chosen people. But as you read through the Bible, you see that many of them rejected Him. God then made another sacrifice and that was Jesus Christ. He was sacrificed on the cross so that we could be forgiven of our sins. He signified God’s promise to us that if we believed in Him and trusted in Christ as our Savior that we could have everlasting life.

Have you made a promise to God? Have you kept your promise? If you have failed to keep your promise to Him or failed to stay true to Him, it’s not too late. You can turn to Him. You can trust that He is faithful to you. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Verse 10 goes on to say that if we say we have no sin, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

God kept His promise to Abram and He has kept His promise to us. He is true to His word. You can accept His promise and make a promise to be faithful to Him. You can love Him with all your heart and your soul and your mind. Or you can ignore the promise He made to us.

It all comes down to whether or not you believe. If you believe in God as the creator of the universe and you believe that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for your sins, you will want to commit to Him. You will promise to love Him with all your heart, your soul and your mind. You will trust in Him and obey His commands. You will take your commitment to Christ seriously.

Have you made a pinky promise to God that you halfway keep or are you totally devoted to Him? There will come a day when you will be judged on how you answer that question. None of us know when our time will come, but we know it’s coming. I beg of you to trust in Him today. Don’t be afraid to commit to following Him and doing your best to imitate Him. Your time may be closer than you think.

Have a great day!