My Word is My Bond

Well, I’m not talking about the famous phrase from James Bond. You know the –My Name is Bond. James Bond’s thing- :)

But, while working as a stock dealer few years ago, I remembered that there’s a phrase that’s famous among us and widely used in our conversation.

Let say our client which is a Hongkong-based client couldn’t get the correct amount (the quantity) of the stock he bought that day, sometimes our company agreed to top up whatever the amount to fill the full quantity of their orders. It wasn’t done in the market yet or in other terms people usually said it’s an off-market transaction, but we agreed on it verbally. That’s when we made a promise. That’s when we called: ‘My word is my bond’. We gave our word that our promise would be kept.

Then I tried to search in the internet about the definition of this phrase and found it through a website:

The complete phrase is "my word is my bond" meaning that just by giving your word, one can be assured that the promise will be kept.

It's a maritime brokers' motto. Since 1801 the motto of the London Stock Exchange (in Latin "dictum meum pactum") where bargains are made with no exchange of documents and no written pledges being given.
"My word is my bond" as brokers say (or "my word, my bond!")

--- Source: Urban Dictionary online

Talking about keeping the promises, recently, I got this experience that I want to share with you all. Someone broke his promise to me. After waiting for about one month, here I am, experiencing the same old thing that I’ve been experiencing before. Maybe I was expecting too much. Or maybe I myself try to keep my promise so much, so if someone just suddenly broke his or her promise I’ll be disappointed because I’m expecting he/ she will do the same thing.

Disappointed? Yes. At that time it was accompanied with upset and a little bit of anger.

But then, I realized that maybe, even though I try to fulfill my promises, there are times I can’t keep them. Within my limitation as a human, I can’t always keep them. Maybe it’s because I’m sick, maybe it’s because I just being lazy to do something then I easily break my promises. Well, people then will say, “ What do you expect from me, I’m only human!”

I can only try my best to fulfill them, but yet I might not able to keep all of them.

Then, as usual, I begin to think about Someone Special. He’s really really special that He’s able to keep His Promises. Not only one, but all of them! He’s the One who can easily says: ‘ My Word is My Bond’ without breaking one of them. But of course, He’s got His own time frame which will be different with whatever we have planned. But, no worries, He has got His own time table. His schedule.

He’s God. He’s never too late and in some cases, He’s never too early. Just right in time. But, He’ll deliver whatever promises that He has for us.

Talking about keeping the promises in this life, well…people might make us disappointed. And we can make others upset as well for not being able to do so. That’s when we need to remember that we’re lucky to have Him. And being thankful for His unbreakable promises.

While trying to keep our word as our bond, He has already given His Words as His Bonds. Praise the Lord!

HCMC, 08 January, 2010

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