Folks, it happened a long time ago, but I'm telling you, this story is as true as true can be. Joshua and the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, and they were doing their due diligence to make sure that their enemies weren't lying in wait. See here, Jack, they made a pact with the people of Gibeon and the other surrounding cities that they wouldn't attack each other. My father used to say, "Trust, but verify." So, this is what happened: the folks from Gibeon used to get their food from the Israelites, and they said, "We don't want to be attacked by you. We will give you food if you promise not to attack us." I'm not joking, it was a pretty clever move.

But then the Israelites found out that they had not been totally honest with them. They had pretended to be from a far away land, when they were actually from the same area as the Israelites! The Israelites were ticked off, but they honored their agreement because, c'mon, man, that's the right thing to do. So, they let them live and gave them jobs in the city.

Now, here's the deal. This is an important lesson to us all: no malarkey! Stand by your word, even if it's not what you expected or wanted. Keep your promises and honor your agreements. Excuse me, but literally, that's the only way to go.