Let's turn then There's nothing on your heart this morning at this time. Let's turn together back to Ecclesiastes chapter 5 Last week we began this thought the Lord has kept it on our heart and I think I mentioned in speaking last week as we came to the close of our remarks that there was much more to be said and could not Let that go God wants us. I think I believe that to look at it once again. So we're going to read the same scripture lesson we read last week. We got the first couple of verses looked at last week, and we'll pick up and our remarks will primarily be upon the remainder of these verses. As we think about what we thought about last week and want to continue to bring that thought to your mind of rules for approaching God, That word I'm not fond of, as I've thought about it more, I talked to Aidan about it briefly yesterday, rules of approaching God. I don't want us to think for a minute that these are things that we just would habitually do or that, you know, if you knock these things off the list, if you check the box next to these rules, that somehow, magically, you're going to find yourself in the presence of God. I think we can think that way. And while I want to guard us against that in some respect, I do want point out again that God does give us instruction on how to approach him. It's not a any way will do kind of thing. It is God who we are approaching. And as if we were approaching an earthly king, we would approach him in a certain way. It would be different from approaching a friend, a brother, a family member. And while God is our father, And there is that familial relationship between us and him. If we know him, we do need to keep in mind who he is. And so God does give us some things to think about as we approach him. We talked last week about guarding your steps, and then we spoke about being people of listening ears first. We want to pick up some other things that we find here on how we are to approach God. as we look at the remainder of these verses. But let's back up, read verses one through verse nine today. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business and a fool's voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity, but God is the one you must fear. Rules for approaching God today, perhaps we just might label it part two. It's really, it is a continuation of the thought that God gave us last week. We want to present to you this morning some further rules of approaching God. And we talked last time, again, about these first two that I want to just address and bring up again to your mind of being careful, being thoughtful, being measured. And guarded is the word that we find here in the ESV of when we approach God, when we go to his house, that our steps are considered. It's not whimsical. It's not without soberness. It's not without thoughtfulness. We don't stumble into the presence of God and then look up and find him there. We come purposely and we think purposely and we pray purposely as we approach the house of God. And then as we get there, we find and heard from the writer here in Ecclesiastes, He says to us to be ready to hear first. It's better to hear, to listen, than it is to speak. And then he goes on and he talks about how that a fool's voice is known by much speaking, by as many words. In Solomon, if he is indeed the writer of this book of Ecclesiastes, he picks this theme up a number of times in the book of Proverbs of how a lot of talking leads to a lot of foolishness and reveals a lot of foolishness. And so he says to us, and if we just might want to pick up where we left off last week, we do want to be mindful of the fact that it's important that we be people of few words, that we speak carefully, that when we speak, people then hear and listen because they're not accustomed to us wasting our words or speaking as a fool. And the Scripture again tells us over and over again of the importance of being people of few words. And I know we're all different personalities, and we all have different giftings. And God has called some to speak more than others. He's given some the calling to proclaim His Word in a calling to preach the gospel. And I will tell you today that as I grow older and the more that I try to follow the calling that God gave me when I was 19 years old, some 30 years ago now, The thing that continues to grow in my concerns or my thoughts and my awareness are the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of words that I have tried to speak as I proclaim the gospel. And I think how many thousands of words and how many thousands more might be in my future, though this may be the last set of them that I ever give. It could be the last Sunday that I speak to you could be don't know. But the more that I think about it, the more I think I wish and I desire to be one of fewer words and more listening. And the scripture tells us again and again to be people of careful speech. And the scriptures, I think, speak so plainly upon this subject. And I think we mentioned this last week, but we want to pick it up here. The scriptures speak so plainly to us about being people of carefully chosen and even few words. I just want to read a number of them for you today because the scripture says it far better than I ever could. In James 1, verse 19, we are told, Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak. In Psalm 141, verse 3, Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. In Matthew 12, verse 36, Jesus himself tells us, I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. Proverbs 13, 3, whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. James again, chapter 3, verse 6. The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell. Second Timothy 2.16, Paul instructing Timothy and says, Avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness. Just a few more, Proverbs 17, verse 27, whoever restrains his words has knowledge. And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Again, in Proverbs, a fool gives full vent to his spirit in chapter 29, verse 11, but a wise man quietly holds it back. A fool gives full vent to his spirit. but a wise man quietly holds it back. And finally, again, the words of Jesus, when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. And that's just a handful of a very simple search of scripture that I did that tell us and encourage us to be people of few words, considered words and careful words. Once we have heard, there is a time to speak. We've we said that we are to speak. The psalmist tells us, let the redeemed of the Lord say so to encourage those who don't know him to seek him and to encourage those who do to fellowship together and exhort one another to serve the Lord. There is a time to speak. But there is a time first to listen and then to be carefully choosing of the words that we speak. And certainly a word of encouragement to anyone who might try and stand for God in preaching. You have no hope for speaking for God if you've not yet listened and heard from him. And I shared that as well with you last week. But we wanted to begin there to remind us of what we've already seen. But we want to move on in verses four and five today specifically, and then we'll say something as well, if God will have us to, about the remainder of these passages. An additional rule for approaching God is to approach God sincerely. Sincerely, honestly. And I think that's part of what we see when he says to us in verse four, paying. When you promise him something, give it to him. Be sincere in the few words that you choose to speak. And he kind of cautions us later here to to not let our mouths run out in front of us, but to be careful with those words. But when we do vow something to God, when we promise him something. Solomon says, pay it, give it to him. So then we see here in these passages, we are to approach God with a careful, guarded step, a heart ready to hear first and to speak second and to speak little. And now he tells us to approach God sincerely with every intention. to make good on the promises that we speak to him, every intention to fulfill what we vow to him, every intention of heart to make good on the promises that we make to God and make good upon them quickly. Time here for some questions, I think that will be stinging and probing of our hearts. But I I think they're necessary for us to examine where we are before God in relation to this instruction from Solomon. How many promises have you made to God that you've not yet fulfilled? What have you committed to God that you've not yet given to him? These are questions posed to me by God first before I ever pose them to you, and there are things on that list, no doubt. What have you promised to God that you're holding on to? What are you waiting on? What am I waiting on to give to him what I have told him I would give him? Perhaps in some answers that came to my mind, maybe I'm waiting on God to make it easier for me to give him what I've promised to give him. To make it simpler, to make the sacrifice a little bit less. Maybe I'm waiting on that. Maybe that's what I'm waiting on, a time for this to be easier. Maybe you're waiting on the circumstances of your life to change where it will be more convenient for you to give to God what you've promised to give him. Maybe maybe you're waiting on him to smooth something as smooth the way before we give him what we've promised to give him, which if we've been saved, we we promised him our hearts and and all of us. Maybe, maybe. Maybe you're waiting on waiting to see what you can make of your life before you you give it to him to see what he'll make of it. Whatever the reason, whatever the cost, whatever the obstacle. I want to encourage you to hear what the writer here says, Solomon, most likely. When you when you vow something to God, pay it. Now, as we consider this paying of our vows to God, we we must keep in mind that we are talking about vows that we have made voluntarily. What forced them upon us? No one has compelled us. These promises that Solomon is talking about here, these promises that we make to God, we made to him of our own volition. We told him it's something that we have said, God, I will give this to you. My life is yours. All that I have is yours and I give it to you. That was a promise we made to him of our own volition. And maybe even those words didn't cross our mind or our hearts, but we surrender to him. God, my life is yours, and these are promises made of our own volition. They're not promises made under some type of compulsion, compulsion by him or compulsion, by the way, from anybody else. When you vow a vow to God, you vow to him of your own voluntary choice. Those are the promises that Solomon is talking about. But when you make a promise like this to God, he says, pay it and pay it soon. Do not delay. Pay it now, pay it today. There's some background scripture that you must know about because I believe Solomon knew about it when he wrote it way back in Deuteronomy. Hundreds of years before this was written, we find this in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 23 verses 21 through 23. If you vow or if you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it. Sounds exactly like what Solomon just wrote all the way back in Deuteronomy. If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it. For the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. Moses sinned. All the way back in Deuteronomy, very different circumstance, very different setting, but the same command. Don't delay paying to God what you've promised to give him. going on in those verses in Deuteronomy. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. That's important. He says, look, nobody is compelling you to make this vow to God, but if you make one and you don't pay it, then it is sin. But if you don't promise, if you don't give him something you didn't promise him, Moses says you'll not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips. For you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord, your God, what you have promised with your mouth. Notice. Again, that not vowing, according to Moses in verse 22 of Deuteronomy, chapter 23, is not a sin, if you refrain from vowing, you'll not be guilty of sin. You know, there's little that you can do to discourage people from trusting you than to not do what you say you're going to do. Isn't that true? You can be a good person, quote unquote, you can be someone that people like. But people learn quickly, by the way. And it doesn't take all that many times for us to say we will do something and not do it when trust is eroded significantly. And it's better to just promise what you can deliver. I had a coworker many years ago who was well known in the company for saying, lower the standard and then over deliver. Lower the bar and then go over the bar. It's important for us to be careful what we vow to one another And to do what we say we're going to do, certainly how much more important is it that what we say to God, what passes our lips to God? That we make good on. There's little, again, that you can do to to discourage people from trusting you than to not do what you you say in like manner, there's there's little that will hinder your closeness to God than to tell him you're going to give him something that you don't give him. That's going to be a big stumbling block in your relationship and your closeness with God, because He doesn't forget what you promised. He doesn't forget what you've said. I want to let you in on something I've learned here in 49 years of life. God will not pry anything from your hands, even things you lose you can hold on to long after you've lost them. He'll not pry it from you. He's waiting and he wants and he desires for you to give to him everything that you've promised to give him. The one who owns every atom in all the universe has no need to take anything from you. You don't have anything that he needs. There's nothing that you can give to him that he is in need of. He gives to us so that we then have something to give to him, which, by the way, is really the point of having anything in the first place. God gives to us so that we can have something to give back to him, and that's the whole point that he gave it to us in the first place so that we can have something to give to him. And why does he want us to have something to give to him? Is he narcissistic? Is he some malevolent God who simply gives us things so that he can watch us in pain, give them back to him? No. He gives us things because he wants to show us his love in giving to us, and he wants then to hear and to see us love him in giving it back. So that we might be able to love him with the things that he has given to us, a thought of an illustration. that that might be helpful here. Consider a little boy, just a little boy, and his mother gives him a box of crayons and some paper. That little boy then takes those crayons and that paper and he draws a picture for his mother. That's a common scene. That happens many, many times every day throughout the world. Now, without being gifted the crayons and the paper, the boy could never draw the picture that he wants to give to his mother. He's totally dependent. He didn't earn the crayons and he didn't earn the paper. He had nothing in the first place. But when he was given those things, he drew a picture. And one of those pictures he wants to give to his mother. So the little boy gives that drawing to his mother. He is in one sense, is he not? giving back to his mother what was hers in the first place. The crayon and the paper. She already had it before she gave it to him. She already possessed it. It was hers when she gave it to him. Nothing. that his mother receives, in some sense anyway, the remnant of the crayon that he marked on the paper that created a drawing, that crayon was hers. Nothing that she gave her son was not hers before she gave it. to her son. She bought the paper. She bought the crayons. She provided the room, the chairs, the table for her son to draw on. She fed him with the food that she had bought and she had prepared. The son is the recipient of everything that he has. Nothing that he gave to his mother was something she didn't first give it to him. With one exception. The drawing was his. What he drew was his. What he drew was his picture that he wanted to give to his mother, that drawing came from his mind and his heart. When he gives that picture to his mother, he wants her to enjoy it and to like it and what is so common, put it on the refrigerator. And he might not as a little child be able to articulate something like this, but he wants her to be reminded that he loves her. And not only that, that picture reminds her that he loves her, but also that he knows that she loves him. And that little boy was given absolutely everything with which to create that picture and draw that picture, but the picture was his. And he wanted her to have that picture and like manner, all that we have in our lives is God's, all of it. Everything in our life is God's, we have nothing to give him that was not first given to us by him. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. Our time is his. Our money is His. Our jobs are His. Our loved ones are His. Our possessions are His. The roads we drive on to go to our work, to earn money for our families is His. They're His. Everything you and I have is His. And you might think, well, then there's nothing I can give him that's not already his. Doesn't that rob me of the joy of being able to give him something? And the answer actually is no, because the picture is yours. The picture you paint with your life, which is a picture painted with the things God has given to you, that's yours. It's uniquely yours. It's no one else's. And God, yes, it's like the parents who knows roughly many times what the child is going to draw the picture that he's going to draw. But do you think that robs that of any less of any joy of the mother feels when the son gives her his drawing? In like manner, when God gives us things, yes, they're his. Yes, he might even know what we're going to do with it, but do you think that robs him of pleasure when we do indeed, when we vow something to him and promise to give him something in our life, that we do it? So the question is not, you know, with that boy and mother analogy, it's not really about the picture at all, is it? It's not. It's about the motive and the intents of the hearts in the giver and the receiver. And do you notice, by the way, in that this analogy can go so many different places. There's a giver and the joy is in giving and receiving. It's just it's reversed between us and God. God gives first. We don't give first. We receive first. We receive from God what he gives to us. And so we receive first. And if we do right and we do well with what we've been given, we then give that back to God, whatever picture we've drawn with our life, and we give it to him. And that's the order for us as human beings. With God, the order is the other way around. He gives and then desires to receive back from us of our own volition, our own will. And again, this picture that we draw in our lives, it's uniquely our own two people blessed with the identical supplies from God will never draw the exact same picture. Be blessed to live in the same. country, the same state, the same town, go to the same church, go to the same school, blessed with roughly the same amount of financial capability and blessing, same intelligence level, same socioeconomic level, same this and same that. And they're going to be two different pictures. That's the joy of the Christian life is to be able to give to God what he has given to us, but then take it and make of our own volition and choice, a gift back to God. So your life is not meaningless. That's how some people can read Ecclesiastes. And life here, apart from God, it is. That's exactly what Solomon says again and again and again. But here we see a picture into the reality that life isn't meaningless. When we give to God what we vowed to give to him, your life is not meaningless. Your purpose is not absent. You are not just one of billions and billions of human beings on the planet. You are you. Created uniquely and purposely by God to draw him a picture with your life that is uniquely your own. It's true that God knows what we will draw, as I said, it is true that he knows, but that does not mean he does not take joy in receiving what we give to him. I thought about this a little further, too, and I thought, you know, when a small child makes this kind of drawing, and I want you to examine your own heart here as we share this thought. When a very small child draws a picture for his parent, that's a little boy that does that or a little girl that does that, when they're very young, particularly even before they go to school, but they draw a picture, do you see that young person critiquing their drawing? I'm sorry, Mom, it's not very good. They don't do that, do they? With joy, they hand it. I drew you a picture. It's not until later that maybe that same child is in school, and he begins to look over at the desk next to him. And some kid is more talented, better able to draw a better picture. And then he looks at his own. Boy, this picture's not very good next to that one. He begins to critique his own work. And this whole situation has been turned upside down. Because where it was originally about the joy of giving and not really about the quality of the picture, it becomes about performance. It becomes about measuring ourselves next to one another. It becomes about, well, God doesn't want me. I can't give him a very beautiful picture. Look at the picture this other person's drawing in their life. And we begin to critique. And we begin to measure ourselves by ourselves, and the scripture says when we do that, we're we're not doing wisely. I want to encourage you today, God has given you many things in your life. It's given me many things in my life. He's wanting you to draw him a picture and give it to him. Don't necessarily say, God, this is what I have to give you. I wish it was better. There's always that desire in our heart. But may we find the joy of giving God our life and that being enough. You know how little I want to say this, how little we think of God, how insulting of him we can be when we when we think he's going to take from us what he wants, when he has over and over and over again made it clear that he calls for us, but he does not force us. He calls us, he exhorts us, he loves us, he desires to be loved by us, but ultimately He will not take from you what he wants from you. You must pay the vow that you've made. Just give him your heart and your life. You know, no one would think it healthy or loving for a mother to sit down and hand her little child, here's a box of crayons and here's some paper. Draw me a picture or you will be grounded or you will be punished. I mean, how absurd is that idea? Is that love? When that young boy draws that picture, is he drawing it because he's just wanting to show his mother how much he loves her? Or is he drawing it to escape punishment? Which would you prefer? From your child, which picture would you prefer to draw? Surely a picture drawn in fear is not the one we desire to give. And surely God, who knows and sees all and is a God of love and does not receive our drawings, he does not receive that in some kind of blind selfishness. He desires for us to give to him a picture of the things and with the things that we have been given by him. So with Solomon today, I want to exhort you to give God what you promised to give him, whatever Whatever that is. And of course, we know through scripture that what God calls upon us to give him is our heart. Which, of course, we know is is us. Me. Everything of me. Trust me, by the way, you will you'll do things God's going to do will do things with your life. He don't hear the false prophet in these words, don't hear false promises. But God will do things with your life that you could never do. I didn't say he's going to make your life easy and simple without a lot of heartache. But he can do things with your life that you could never do. He'll keep you standing when on your own, you could never stand. He will stay with you when others and perhaps even everyone forsakes you. He will instruct you when you don't know what to do. He will turn heartache into joy when he reminds you that this life is the shadow. This life is the shadow and that the next life is the eternal reality and the true reality. So then the things that you lose here, the things you lose here, the things you sacrifice here, the things that bring tears to your eyes here, these things are all in the shadows. They look real to us and they certainly feel real to us. And certainly in one sense, they are real. The things that happen here. But they're nothing more than passing shadows next to the light of eternity that is coming. And the light that is shining that cast the shadow of this world. Again, shadows cast by that light of eternity that shines all around us, but sometimes in the midst of the shadow, in the depths of that shadow of this life, it's hard for us to see beyond it and see the eternity and the light that surrounds all of it. This life is the passing life. So again, I beg you today, pay your vow to God, whatever you've promised him that remains in your possession, leave it with him today. Leave it with him. Give him the picture that you've been drawing. Give him those things that he is first given to you and do so before you leave this place, before you take one step back out into the shadow of this world. And the ruler of this world, this shadow world, encourages you to reestablish your grip on whatever it is that perhaps in this moment, as I plead with you to let go of it, maybe your grip is loosening finally just a little bit. Maybe you can look down at your hands and where there used to be white knuckles holding on to whatever it is that you're refusing to give to God. Maybe the whiteness of those knuckles is fading a little bit and your grip is beginning to loosen. But I'll tell you, you've got to do more than loosen your grip. You've got to let it go. You've got to hand it over to God. You've got to take it from your hands and put it into his. God, my life is yours. Here's the drawing. If I were to judge it next to other people, I know, father, it's not much. But I'm not going to do that because I'm giving you what I can, who I am, who you have made, whom you have given these things, I give them back to you. So before you leave this place. Before you step back out there and you're convinced by those who live in the shadow, To hold on to things that you're going to let go of anyway. Let go of it now. Let go of it this moment. I pray again that your grip is loosening, but I pray that it opens completely. How many times before is your grip loosened on whatever it is that you're holding on to? How many times before, as your grip loosened, as God's spirit spoke to your heart, yet coming short of fully surrendering it and fully letting it go, you found your grip just reestablished and reaffirmed. Let it go today. How many times then as well, once back out there, have you experienced that resettling of the grip? I want to point you to what we pointed you to last week in similar way that right now is the important time. Not yesterday and not tomorrow right now. The only time do you understand this? The only time that you can delay something is right now. You can't delay something in the past. And you can't delay something in the future. The only time you can delay paying your vow right now. It's the only ability to delay anything is right now. You don't have the ability to do this in the future, though you might. But in that point, you'll be delaying it in the right now when that moment comes. Don't delay. Do not say that you're determined to pay your vow tomorrow. That is merely to delay. Have you promised to give him your heart in the past but have not done so? Are you presently delaying once again? And I say to you to stop the delay, stop the hesitation, stop the halting, stop the limping, stop the division in your heart about God that is causing a division in your entire life. If you're divided about God, you're going to be divided about everything. Unstable in all your ways is how James puts it. Divided between good and evil, divided between self and God, divided between obedience and rebellion, divided between inward peace and inward turmoil, divided between what you desire to be and what you presently are. I beg you today with every ounce of my strength. And every sincerity that I can bring to bear, stop the delay today, even now in your heart and surrender it and let go of whatever it is that you're holding on to and give it to God. Whatever it is, however much it will cost you. However dear it is to you, however uncertain you are about what your life will look like once you let go of it and give it to God. However dear that it might be to you, let it pass from your hand to his and begin now today, do not delay to pay the vow that you've made to God. And again, whatever it is, however much. It is give it to him. I can tell you one final thing about this before leaving this thought. You're not going to regret it. You won't regret. Paying what you promised. You will not regret paying that vow. What you will regret is what you held on to. When your life in this shadow world, if we can call it that, comes to an end and And you look down at the things in your hands that you kept from God and with profound regret. And profound confusion over your unwillingness to let go of things so inconsequential, that's what you're going to. That's what you'll regret. On the other hand, all those things that you willingly gave him, all those sacrifices you made in this life, He will return them to you in exponential blessings as you take the crown of life that He gives you, and then what are you going to do with that that you've been given? You're going to give it right back to Him again and set it at His feet and worship Him. You see the circle of giving and receiving, but it is God that begins it. So you've been given much, and I pray that you would pay the vow that you've made. We just want to say a few more things and we'll be finished. Do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. In other words, this is based again back in Deuteronomy, where somebody would promise a tithe, an offering to the priest. Say, I will give this much. And then time goes by and they didn't make good on the vow. And so they would send a messenger. They would send a priest. They would say, hey, you promised to give this to the to the temple and you haven't done it yet. And so that's what he means here when he says, you know, don't say to the messenger it was a mistake. Well, I shouldn't have promised that. That was a mistake. That's what he's saying. You know, don't say to God, I shouldn't have promised that. That was a mistake for me to promise it. Don't don't do that. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity, but God is the one you must fear, and that's what we want to close with. God is the one you must fear as we approach God. We approach him carefully and guardedly with our steps. We approach him to listen first. And then we approach him ready to speak, but speak carefully and speak few words. And then as we approach him, we approach him sincerely and we pay what we say we're going to pay to him. We give him what we say we're going to give to him. And finally, as we approach him, we fear him and him alone. No one else, nothing else. As we approach God, we must remember that he is the one we must fear, singular. This might feel out of place here in some ways. Maybe it hits you as out of place. What does that have to do with what he said to this point, this fearing of God? But it isn't. Because the fear of God, I believe, is the foundation upon which all of these other things are based, how we approach God. is in a reverential. Fear knowing who he is. It is a lack of fear of God that allows us to approach his house with that casual, dismissive heart, it's a lack of fear of God that allows us to speak first and speak often when we ought to listen first and speak less. It's a lack of fear for God that allows us to maintain our hold on the things that we promised to give him and we delay doing so. So if you find yourself holding on the things that you promised God or speaking when you should be listening or coming to church without a reverent demeanor, it's because there's there's something missing in your reverence and fear of God himself. And that's what's happening in your heart and mine if we find ourselves stumbling next to these rules of approach to God. And we do want to mention that it is a reverential fear that we're talking about. It's a fear that fears not loving God like we want to love Him. And that's different than a fear of Him and what He might do to us. It's a fear of not loving God like we desire and as a human being created in his image and in his likeness and with eternity set in our hearts. That's the fear of God that I'm talking about, not loving him, not being to him what we desire to be to him. It's a fear of not being with God, whom we most desire to be with. It's a fear that is clothed with love, present at all times. but never alone with just fear. I pray that if God is dealing with your heart, that you will pay that, that you've promised him, and you can do that today, just giving him your heart, surrendering to him. And I will tell you today that you're going to have to do that over and over and over again, not for salvation, but to live a sanctified life is what we've been studying in Romans. To be following Him is to surrender to Him what He has called us to surrender. And as we make that vow to Him, let's make good on that vow. And follow Him and love Him and serve Him is our prayer for you. Let's have a song at this time.