The Moral Compass Chronicles
An audio time capsule centered around morality - encouraging people around the world on the importance of governing one’s life in a morally [and biblically] sound manner!
The Moral Compass Chronicles
Covenant Keeper: The Forgotten Vow I Made With God
Have you ever made a promise to God that you completely forgot about until years later? That's exactly what happened to me, and the realization stopped me in my tracks. When I was around 15 years old, I made what I now recognize as a naive but life-altering covenant with God. Standing at the crossroads of adolescence, I essentially bargained with the Almighty, then I went about my life, completely forgetting this solemn vow for over a decade.
Fast forward to a recent conversation with my sister when this long-forgotten promise suddenly resurfaced in my memory. The revelation hit me like a lightning bolt—despite years of questionable decisions that should have landed me in serious trouble, I had emerged relatively unscathed. No jail time, no unwanted pregnancies, no major health issues. Now, as a recently ordained minister with a beautiful wife and our first child on the way, I realized I was living inside the fulfillment of that teenage covenant.
Grace and peace.
Speaker 1:Grace and peace. Welcome to another rendition of the Moral Compass Chronicles. I am your boy, I'm your man, eon J. You already know what time it is. I'm glad to be here yet again with you guys. I am grateful for you, you, you, you and you. And in the spirit of that gratefulness, let's jump right into it. Let's jump right into it. Let's jump right into it.
Speaker 1:I have a very, very interesting topic, a very a topic that is close to my heart. It is very personal, very, very much so personal, and I would love to share it with you guys, and I pray that somebody's soul, somebody's heart, somebody's mind is blessed. I pray that somebody is uplifted and I pray that you learn something here today. Now I mentioned my sister, sav, on the last episode. Shout out to my sister, shout out to you, savannah Um, I was talking to her a few months ago and in having the conversation with her I had, by something that happened years ago, something meaningful, something powerful am now and where God wants to take me, and why a vow and a covenant that I made with God when I was probably 14, 15 years old this is over 15 years ago, so let me not tell my age, but this was over 15 years ago.
Speaker 1:I was in high, probably had just started high school and I made a vow with the lord. There's a song that says I made a vow with the lord and I won't take it back now. I want to make something clear. I hadn't thought about this. I hadn't thought about this vow or this covenant that I made with God. In years it probably at least 10 years now, maybe more I haven't even thought. I hadn't thought about it until this conversation that I was having with my sister, and even in the middle of the conversation. I'm going to tell you what it is, or what it was.
Speaker 1:In the middle of the conversation and I know she remembers I actually paused and was in amazement and actually it's funny enough. I actually shared it with my church and you know people laughed because it was funny. I delivered it in a funny kind of way, but it was serious to me and as I was telling Savannah this story, I stopped and I was like wow, oh my God, I am living. You know how you, you know how we say we're living in, we're in the middle of an answered prayer. Sometimes you gotta be able to stop and look at your situation and know that, yo, this is. You're living in the middle of what you prayed for at one point in your life right Now. I, at one point in your life right Now, I made a vow to the Lord when I was 15 years old or so, 14, whatever, it was, maybe 30, I don't even know.
Speaker 1:It could have been 13, 14, 15, 16, I'm not sure. And at the time it came from such a naive place. It came from a place of a spoiled Church boy. A young man that was fortunate to be born in Christ. In Christ and yes, I was born in Christ had to make the decision for myself to make Jesus Christ Lord and savior of my life. Right, I have. Everyone has to make that decision for yourself. Your parents can't make that decision for you, even if you're born in the church.
Speaker 1:Right, and you see me, I've never been someone who just takes other people's word for something. I had to come into that for myself, right, and that's what I have done. That's where the conviction comes from. The conviction in what I speak of comes from a place not of indoctrination and not from a place of naivety, if you will. It comes from personal experience, like. I want to make that clear. It comes from personal experience and personal understanding of who Jesus is not who people say he is, not who the pastors preach about, but who I know him to be personally because I have a personal relationship with God. All right. So I just want to, I want to make that clear. I just wanted to make that clear right there, right now. I had made that decision for myself. That's the only reason I could make A vow like this with God right now. I was in a place where I'm like I know what's right and what's wrong. I know the life that I wanted to live Versus the life that God was calling me to live.
Speaker 1:Right Me being a teenager, a young black teenager. You know I'm seeing the parties. I'm seeing the parties, I'm seeing the women, I'm seeing the fun. I'm seeing these different things. You know the weed and the alcohol and these things that we want to indulge in, and these desires start from a young age. Many of us know right. Can I testify here today? Hey, this is my platform. Let me testify now. All right, this is and, and these are the things I'm seeing, and there's a particular way of life that I knew god was calling me to walk and calling me to live Right now.
Speaker 1:I always say a lot of us who are born in church and we have parents who bring us to church from young. Oftentimes we're spoiled and we're desensitized to the word of God, so much so that we're able to be in church on Sunday and do what we do, and we can party all week and we can fornicate all week, even on Sundays, and we can do the things we're not supposed to do and just play in God's face. Not supposed to do and just play in god's face. And more times than not, it's those of us who grew up knowing what's right and wrong and we've been hearing how jesus is coming back for so long and he's not back yet and that has given us a false sense of reality, that has given us an idea that we have time To play in God's face. But All right, let me, let me. I want to stay on topic, so let me stay on topic now. Right, that is the place that I was in when I made this vow with God.
Speaker 1:Now I remember I spoke to the Lord one night, one day, whatever it was, because I was in a place in my life where I knew yo, I just want to have fun. I just want to enjoy life the way I want to enjoy life, and let me, let me let me put my ring on, give me one second. Yes, let me, let me put one of them on my hand, feel naked all right now. I I was in a place where I knew what I wanted, and the truth is I didn't want the things of God at that time. But I knew it was right. I knew God was still calling me. I knew there was a calling on my life to fulfill the work of the Lord. Right, I knew that, but I didn't want it yet. I didn't want it yet. I didn't want it yet.
Speaker 1:And it's funny, I have some definitions here about what a vow is and what a covenant is. So a vow is a solemn promise, especially when you make a vow and a covenant with God. Specifically, that's what I'm talking about. A vow is a solemn promise or a pledge made to God. A covenant, which is similar, it's a divine agreement or a binding contract, and a lot of us who are familiar with the word of God, you know about covenants that were made by the children of Israel, by the children of God, going from the Old Testament spanning to the New Testament, there are several covenants that were made between God and between man. All right, and I'm going to get into some of those examples as well, but this is a covenant I made and this is where I was in my life at that 15 year old age or so, right, and I prayed to the Lord and I said, god, listen, and I you know, that's one thing I've always been is honest with god, right, listen, god listen. And I don't pray to him the way I hear other people pray. That's not my style. I talk to him, like me, and, yes, there's a way to approach the mercy seat at times, but when you just communion with communion with God, and you have a relationship with him and you're I'm not always, you know, in sackcloth and ashes, I'm not always at the altar.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I'm walking down the street having a conversation with God. Sometimes I'm in the shower. Sometimes I'll be working having a conversation with him. Sometimes I'm in the shower, sometimes I'll be working having a conversation with him. There was a time I was a bus driver. Those were some of my best conversations with god when I was driving those buses. Those are some of my best conversations with god.
Speaker 1:Now I'm like listen, listen, god, I I know what I have to do, I know what you're calling me to, but, god, you gave all of these old people all the time in the world. This is a true story, bro, lord, and I'm. I'm thinking about my mom, who's now at that time, you know, in her early 50s, right? Well, let me not tell on my mom's age either, but you know 40s, 50s took her from. You know that age. I'm thinking about my aunts and my uncles. I'm thinking about the elders and all of these old people who I grew up knowing in church, and all of these people who I look up to and who are there for me. You know that village they talk about. It takes a village, right, it takes a village to raise a child. Well, that village I'm thinking about that village.
Speaker 1:My auntie Lorna, who who? And Uncle G, and all of these people who raised me, who are in God now, who I knew were not always saints. I knew they weren't always as perfect as they portray themselves to be some who decide they want to portray themselves as if they're perfect, and I know you're not right. This is me at the time, but I can see how God took them from where they were to where they are now. And I said to myself God, you, I see, essentially, I see what you've done for others.
Speaker 1:Lord, I just want to be able to live my life. Now I'm young, I want to have fun. Now I'm young, I want to have fun, I want to be able to go to parties and I want to be able to do whatever I want. I want to be able to drink and have sex and and and do all. And I don't know if I was smoking weed at the time, because it depends on the age. If it was like 15, then maybe I had just started Right. Let's keep it 100. Like 15 that maybe I had just started right. Let's keep it 100 now.
Speaker 1:I ain't heard a lot of nobody. Lord, I want to be able to do all of these things. But, god, I'm begging you not to come back yet. Oh Lord, have mercy. I don't know anybody relate to that. Can anybody testify that same thing? You ever had that thought? Lord, please don't.
Speaker 1:They say the rapture is coming. They say you're coming back and you're coming back for a prepared people. Lord, I am begging you, don't come back yet. I want to be able to do what I want to do have my fun. I also I want to be able to grow up and get married and have a family, because those of you that know me, I've always wanted that. The people who don't know me probably think that I'm you know, I've always wanted to have multiple women and be a player and blah, blah, blah, blah. But those are the people who don't know me. For those who know me, you know that since I was young bro young, 12 years old experienced love at a young age and have always wanted the wife and the kids and that sort of thing. I've always wanted that. Wasn't always ready for it, but I always wanted it.
Speaker 1:Right, came from a good place, lord, I want all of that, just not right now. I'm young. I'm young and I want to have fun. And, god, if you keep me this is what I said to the Lord If you keep me from harm and danger and at the time I wasn't thinking about the things I could get myself into, but I just prayed with a, an honest heart to the lord if you, lord, keep me through through all of the things that I want to do, I promise you, god, that I am going to grow up, and this is the first thing I said. I'm going to grow up, I'm going to be a minister, because I was thinking about my father, who was a minister. I'm going to grow up, not a pastor. I don't want to be no pastor. I don't want to be no bishop. I'm going to grow up, Lord. I'm going to to be no bishop. I'm gonna grow up, lord. I'm gonna be a minister. I'm gonna get married, have children, have a family and I'm going to live for you. I'm gonna do everything you want me to do. If you keep me, let me have my fun while I'm young. Let me do what I want to do While I'm young. Let me do what I want to do and I promise I'm going to grow up and become a minister. I'm going to get married, have a family and I'm going to live for you.
Speaker 1:That is the vow I made to the Lord when I was a child. And when I was a child, I thought as a child, for sure. When I was a child, I thought as a child. I thought as a child, for sure. When I was a child, I thought as a child. That is the vow that I made to the lord when I was a child. When I was a child, I thought, as a child, not really knowing that with a prayer like that, there would be consequences. There would be consequences. Ecclesiastes 5, verse 4, says when thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou hast vowed. Pay that which thou hast vowed. When thou vowest a vow unto God, pay that which thou has vowed. And now I made that vow a long time ago, and for a long time I hadn't thought about it. You know why? Because I was busy doing what I told God I was going to do. I was busy doing what I told God I was going to do.
Speaker 1:That vow didn't that covenant that I made with the Lord. It didn't come from a place of desperation, it didn't come from a place of God. You know, some people make a vow with God when they're desperate. Lord, I'm homeless. And if you deliver, like, like, that's a, that's a, that's a vow that comes from a place of desperation. Mine came from a place of entitlement. It came from a place of entitlement, it came from a place of naivety. I'm just trying to be transparent. That is what I promised God and that's what I asked God to do in return. And how did God respond?
Speaker 1:I didn't realize it until I was talking to my sister, savannah, a few months ago, because there is no way that I should have made it through everything I have done. There is no reason no, good enough reason that I should have made it out alive. There is no way that I should have made it out without being in jail right now. There's no way that I should have made it out without being killed. Oh God Almighty, I should not still be standing. But god. And now I'm gonna attribute that to a few different things, because I mean, we talk about grace and mercy. You know, uh, getting things that you don't deserve and then not getting what you do deserve, right? Can I talk about the grace and mercy that has been on my life since I made that vow? And here's the thing I'm not sure. Maybe I gotta do some more praying. I really just wanted to share this with everyone. I gotta do some more praying because I'm not totally certain what it was that kept me. Was it that vow that kept me? Was it the prayers of my mother that kept me? Is it the purpose that god have has on my life, that he just decided to keep me here for a time such as this, I'm not sure, but what I do know is when you make a covenant with god, it is binding, and god answered.
Speaker 1:I was in a place in my life where I felt like I was unable to do certain things for different reasons, some of which I have already mentioned, but I really wanted to be able to live my life and do those things Allegedly and I got to say allegedly, say allegedly right, but I have done some illegal things allegedly that could have landed me in jail. I have been in the middle of things that I should not have been in the middle of drug related that could have ended in me getting killed. There are beefs that I have had where people did not like me for whatever reason, and I could have easily been in situations where it was it was them or it was me. I could have been killed by somebody. I could have wound up killing somebody and I would either be dead and in the ground right now or I'd be in jail for 20 to life. I could be in the middle of a life sentence, but God kept me. I could have been buried by my mother and my brother and my family, but God kept me. I could have lost my mind Because of decisions that I made In the midst of that season in my life when I wanted to do what I wanted to do, but God kept me.
Speaker 1:And then I asked myself the question well, am I upholding my end of the vow? Am I upholding my end of the covenant? Now, let's keep it a hundred. I completely forgot about this. I completely forgot about this. I completely forgot about it. It wasn't until I was having that conversation that I remembered and I recognized yo, I'm not perfect, but I am living in the middle of that answered prayer. I'm living in the middle of that answered vow, that covenant that I made. I'm in the middle of it. It's a bind. I made a binding agreement with the Lord. Now watch this. I said God, if you do this, I will respond with this. Now, what happens if I don't hold up my end of that covenant? What happens if I don't hold up my end? God held up his end. He kept me through all of those things that I wanted to do. He sustained me. And I listen. I made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of bad decisions and I came out unscathed.
Speaker 1:I could have 10 kids by now, bro, bro, I'm being transparent, right of all of the, the, the, all, the fornicating I've done and you know what it was always with a good heart, you know. Is it possible to sin from a good place? I don't know. But you know what I've never been a bro, I've never been a cheater. I've been on record saying I've cheated one time in my life or cheated on one person in my life, and I regret that. I will regret that until the day I die. I got friends who are chronic cheaters. I got friends who have, who have cheated on every girlfriend they have had. You know what I'm saying. So that's where I'm coming from. That's what I'm surrounded with, like respectfully, and I've, and listen, this is something I can say, this because I've said this to them. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, I got to stop. I've been on record. Yeah, you go watch my videos, fellas, we got to stop cheating on our ladies, bro. We got to stop cheating on our girlfriends. We got to stop cheating on our wives. Y'all need to grow up. We have to grow up, guys. We have to grow up. That's neither here or there, but I have never gotten a woman pregnant To the point.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you how good God is, bro. Yo, god had me thinking there was something wrong with me. Yo, can we talk about it, bro? Can we talk about it? God has been so good to me and has kept me from the, from the, the, the teeth of some of these women that I have been with. Oh good God. Women that I have been with, oh good god, almighty god has kept me, even in my sin, in my shame. I have been with some women who would have me captive for 18 years.
Speaker 1:I've had some pregnancy scares, where not even scares, but it's women lying telling me they're pregnant when they're really not. Y'all know who you are. Can we keep it a hundred, telling me you pregnant but you're not. I've been there several times and, thanks be to God, it wasn't true. You ask what the point is. I don't know. Women, y'all answer that question. Why do y'all do that? Why do y'all do that? I don't know women. Y'all answer that question. Why do y'all do that? Why do y'all do that? I don't know. I couldn't answer that for y'all. I couldn't answer that. I have been in relationships where no protection, no birth control and never got these women pregnant.
Speaker 1:And the second I'm out of the relationship. They get pregnant, bro. It had me thinking there was something wrong with me. And then I get married and within three months, four months, my wife is pregnant, bro. I'm thinking yo, four months, my wife is pregnant, bro. I'm thinking, yo, I'm gonna have to go to a doctor to see if I'm infertile, because there's no way my friends are doing this and they coming out with children and I love all eight kids. And then me, I'm doing this and no pregnancies. There gotta be something wrong with me. It can't be the women, it gotta be me, bro. I'm thinking yo, I'm gonna have to have this tough conversation with my wife. Yo, I'm being so, I'm being so real right now. I'm being so, I'm being. I pray somebody is getting something from this, bro. This is as transparent as it gets. This is my story. This is my story. This is my story. This is my song man.
Speaker 1:The second I get out the relationship pregnant. I'm like yo, there gotta be something wrong with me. And I get married. I straighten out, get my stuff together, decide to get in the will of God for real. I make a decision, I get married within three, four months. My wife is pregnant and my wife is due early October. Glory be to God. Late September. Whatever it's going to be, come on, man, listen.
Speaker 1:I remembered the vow that I made with the Lord and I said my God, you answered. He answered. He answered. This naive young man cried and the Lord answered me. Very naive child Grew up in the church, knew what was right from wrong, but wanted to do wrong. So I made a vow with God and said, lord, if you let me get away with doing wrong now, watch this, let's keep it 100. He didn't let me get away with it. He never let me get away with it, but he let me come out of it. He gave me the time that I asked for to come out of it, gave me the grace and the mercy that I needed to keep to stay alive in the midst of it, brought me out of it and has brought me into where I'm at right now. And he's now asking me well, son, what now? What are you going to do now? What are you going to do now? What are you going to do now?
Speaker 1:I'm in amazement at how good God is, man, how good he is, and it's got me thinking that covenants with God are stronger than we believe. They're more meaningful than we know. And I would challenge someone Wherever you are in your life right now, you know where you are and you know what you need from the Lord. Have you considered making a need from the Lord? Have you considered making a vow with the Lord? And it doesn't have to be like mine, we may not want the same thing, but have you made a vow with the Lord? Have you made a covenant with him? That's just. That's food for thought, food for thought. Have you made a vow with the Lord? Have you made a vow with him and forgotten about it? Like me, have you? Have you made a vow with the lord and have? Have you taken it back? Let's, let's, let's, let's briefly just look at a few, a few different vows, a few different covenants made.
Speaker 1:I think about hannah. That's like one of the. It's one of one of the first ones I wrote down. I think about hannah and how. Hannah first, samuel, uh, one in ten, hannah 1, samuel 1 and 10. And she vowed a vow and said O Lord of hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, then I will give unto him, or I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. Hannah was barren and she wanted a child and she made a vow with God and said Lord, if you give me this child, I will give him back to you all the days of his life. And if anybody is familiar with the word of God, samuel was dedicated to the house of God by Hannah. She gave him back to the Lord and he learned under the prophet Eli, if I'm not mistaken and started to hear from God Like no one ever had At a time During the time of Saul and David. That came from a covenant of one woman.
Speaker 1:Covenants are powerful. Covenants are powerful, and I mentioned Hannahannah. I mean, let's talk about the children of israel, the covenant that they made with god in the days of moses, and constantly the children of israel have gone back and forth. They do what's right in the sight of the lord. Love the lord, your god, obey his commandments. The Lord, your God, obey his commandments. The children of Israel have gone back and forth, doing what's right in the sight of the Lord, doing what's evil in the sight of the Lord. From those days till now we still doing it.
Speaker 1:What vow have you made with God?
Speaker 1:Have you made a vow with God? Have you made a vow with God? Have you made a vow with the Lord? Have you forgotten about a vow that you have made with him? Have you gone back on it? I just read that scripture in ecclesiastes god takes our promises seriously. Man I I had a hat. I'm not gonna go into what I was gonna say just now, but god takes our promises to him seriously. We are making covenants with god and sometimes we don't even know how powerful they are and the consequences that come from breaking these vows. And my hope and my prayer this was, this was just my, my story, this was my testimony. Man I am, I'm living. I'm living in the middle of an answered vow, an answered prayer, rather, and a vow that I made with the Lord. I'm in the middle of it. He took me out of the mess that I was living in and I asked to be able to live in the mess and you know what? I reaped the consequences and the rewards of that time period, because not all of it was bad of that time period, because not all of it was bad. I just asked god for time. I spent that time doing a lot of things good things and bad things, things that god approves of, and things, things that he certainly did not. But I asked him, I asked, I asked for it, I asked for it and the lord heard me and he answered, and I grew up, I came out of the mess. I'm not perfect, but I came out of the mess. I still need help from the Lord, but I have decided to walk right. I'm still trying to get it right Definitely still trying to get it right and I'm a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ now. I was made a minister last year sometime. I'm married, I'm a husband, I'm a father to be. I am in the middle of a covenant that I made with the lord and he did his part. And, and the funny thing is, you know, if I was smarter, I would have made a vow that that that might have, uh, at least on paper, benefited me, right? So you say, but guess, it was a naive vow. I asked him Lord, allow me to be a child and to do things I wanna do for, like this time period, and then essentially, lord, I will dedicate the rest of my life to you, right, like I mean, I don't know if that was a fair trade-off, but I see it as one now. Like I see it as a win for me personally. But, like, as far as the time frame goes, like I'm only 33 and I mean I I made this decision what to like to do, what was right, what like, maybe, maybe like three, four years ago, for real. Honestly, I really believe I started in like 2021, like I really that's when I I decided, yo, no more fornication, you know what I'm saying. I'm cutting all of that stuff off. You know I stopped smoking a long time ago, stopped selling drugs a long time ago and and that sort of thing allegedly, um, whatever the case is, uh, yo, but the like 2021 is when I really locked in, bro, really started locking in for real late, like late 2021. Fall 2021 made a lot of people upset. Listen, man, when you're living in sin, bro, there's a lot of people in this world who who really love sin, man, they love sin. And when you make the decision I know some of us can testify to that, bro when you make the decision that you're not living in sin anymore, yo, you make a lot of people upset and the truth is, you make the devil upset. You make the devil upset and a lot of people let the devil use them, bro. I've had several women during that time frame block me because I decided, yo, I can't have sex anymore outside of marriage. Like I made that decision to better myself. And or or just general or or even some people who I just decided not to be involved with wound up blocking me, like people who were never involved with me to begin with, who I say, yo, I'm sorry, I'm not on that timing, right. They, you know throwing it at me and I'm saying, yo, listen, I'm flattered, but you know, I'm not on that type of timing right now. This is how I'm trying to live my life and I've been blocked for that. That's wild to me, but it's understandable. That's what. That's what the Bible refers to as the deceitfulness of sin. Let's talk about it. That's, that's the deceitfulness of sin. Let's talk about it. That's the deceitfulness of sin. Right there. I want to share a scripture, my final, last one. I'm done here, I'm done. Psalms 50 and 14. It says offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows unto the most high. Yo, I want somebody to reflect. Reflect if you can man. Reflect, if you can, man reflect, if you can. Have you made a covenant with god without knowing, like, without truly understanding what you did? Have you made a vow to the lord? You asked him for something and said, god, if you do this for me, I'm gonna do this. Do you remember the vows that you made with the Lord and have you held up your end of the bargain? Are you living in the middle of one of those answered prayers even right now? Are you on your way to it? If you're in the middle of the covenant right now, remember that, if it was in the will of God, very important was the covenant that you tried to was in the will of God. Very important was that was the covenant that you tried to make in the will of God. Did you make a covenant with God or have you made, oh Lord, have mercy. That's a whole, nother joint. Have you? Did you make a covenant with God or have you made a covenant with the enemy? What type of covenant have you made? Whoo, oh good God, have mercy. What type of covenant have you made? Oh good God, have mercy. What type of covenant have you made? That's a whole, nother joint. Divine protection and the wrong kind of protection. Who are you making vows to? Are you in communion with the living god jesus is his name or are you in communion with something else and someone else? I, I just wanted to encourage somebody's heart on tonight, on this evening. Much love to you all. I appreciate you If you have made it to this point in the Chronicle. I thank you. I love you. I want you to take a look at your life and where you are and ask yourself that question have I made a vow with the Lord? Am I upholding my end of the bargain? I love you. God bless you all Until next time. This is the Moral Compass. Chronicles.