I will be a methodist in the true sense of the word. The psalmist said: “I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people” (Psalm 116:18, KJV). God calls for my vows every once in a while, even as He called for Abraham’s Isaac. The vow is one of “test and response” by which God continually proves my love for and faith in Him.
However, I must beware of being legalistic. I must not surrender anything God has not claimed. God claims definite parts of me when He feels I am ready for the discipline of giving them up. It is my job to go about my business till He puts in a claim. Then I am to respond with alacrity.
That is the truly disciplined life: yielding a claim instantly, without question or hesitation. I believe no life amounts to anything in His service until it is disciplined. The disciplined man does not spend his time thinking how much he can get: he keeps watching for God’s signal to pay the vow and then he leaps to do it
Paying the vow must be done with the “sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psalm 116:17). I must be extremely grateful that God puts a claim against me. I also must realize that when God puts in a claim, He plans to reward the one who responds, not necessarily with riches health, and comfort, but with what is more important—spiritual power and effectiveness.
God is unhappy with me when He has to tell me twice about giving up a claim. If He asks for my money, He should not have to ask me again. Once yielded, I should never remind God of a claim or keep needling Him about how much I have sacrificed. It is no sacrifice to give up peanuts for gold nuggets. I must therefore “bind the… sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:27, italics added). It is in the binding that my life abounds.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples. ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’” (Matthew 16:24).
Daily with the King 