Thanks for the advice, but that's not exacly a promise

A lot of people like something sweet after dinner, and I'm no exception. Yesterday I finished off a pack of Dove Almond Milk Chocolate candies. Actually the bite-size candies are called 'promises', with each individual wrapper containing a little nugget of wisdom to think about as you enjoy your 'silky smooth' piece of chocolate, like the following:

"Forget the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey instead!"

I'm not sure what Dove means when they call these one-liners 'promises.' A promise is "an express assurance on which expectation is to be based." The word 'promise' is a wonderfully precious word to the Christian; unfortunately, Dove has reduced this precious word to a sentimental, God-ignoring cliche.

By the above definition, only God can actually make a promise. Because only God has express assurance of all that will transpire in any given period of time. I may promise my daughter that I will take her for a walk when I get home, but maybe I will be hit by a bus on my way to work and never come home to take her for that walk. 'If the Lord wills, we will do this or that...'

Because God is almighty and all-knowing, He can make a promise. And because of His sovereign goodness to His people, He keeps all of them: "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you...was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him."

Dove should stick to candy and ice cream; they do that really well. But when it comes to promises, I'll look to God.