Have you been practicing your excuse for the day?Let me explain.
Scenario: Driving too fast, you get pulled over by an officer, what excuse do you conjure up?“I’m on my way to the hospital; I’m late for work; I have to use the restroom; I didn’t realize how fast I was going.”
Scenario: You are out for brunch with your friends and indulge in the Death by Chocolate, Double Tiered, Triple Fudge Brownie with chocolate fudge syrup and a dollop of homemade chocolate whipped cream.“Add the chocolate sprinkles on top please,” you say to the waitress, even though you are a diabetic and on a diet to lose 35 lbs because your cholesterol is off the charts! …and your excuse is:“This is all I will eat all day; I’m starving, and this is just a special treat; no one will know (giggle) unless you tell; Hey…chocolate is good for you!”
Scenario:You are concerned about your financial situation yet find yourself over budget because of a charge card you just can’t seem to get rid of.After all, you need new clothes for work and that living room chair is getting war torn… so you comfort yourself by saying:“I’ve had to put everything on hold, so this is just a little bonus for my sacrifice; everyone needs clothes and my job depends on my looking the part; I’m embarrassed to invite people over with this old furniture; It’s not like I bought a new boat or something!”
Maybe you don’t see yourself in any of these generalizations but that doesn’t mean that you don’t practice ahead of time what you are going to say in any given situation.Come on now… you’re angry with someone, so you practice your pounce all night, just waiting for the moment of confrontation… you WILL come out of top!Or you are fearful of being confronted so you practice the little white lie that will be your excuse… well; I want you to read some of the excuses listed in the Bible.
Gen. 3:12Adam blames Eve for eating the fruit she gave him… like she forced it down his throat or something!
Gen. 3:13 Eve blames Satan for being deceptive…so she ate the fruit.
Exodus 3:11 Moses makes the excuse that he is a nobody with authority to go to Pharaoh and ask for the release of God’s people.
Exodus 4:10 Moses explains to God (as if He didn’t know) that he didn’t speak too well so he couldn’t possibly be a spokesperson for Him.
Exodus 32:22-24 Aaron (Moses’ brother) claims that his wrong doing was because the ‘people’ were evil.
I Kings 19:9,10 Elijah claims he is hiding in a cave because he had done everything expected of him and now he’s the only godly one left and everyone wants to kill him.Pretty egotistical wouldn’t ya’ say?
So what’s the point…
The point is…. Making excuses, based on the lack of truth is disobedient to God – it is sin.
What harm can it do?Oh, well, maybe not much ... or maybe a lot, for instance would you like to be the one responsible for widdling down the testimony of the church?Worse than that, your lack of honesty or discipline may be the stumbling block to another believer or non believer, keeping them from taking the step of faith.
In the first scenario the offender not only lies but breaks the law.
In the second scenario the offender doesn’t take seriously that the body of a believer houses the Holy Spirit…God himself!Our health should be high on the list of importance if we expect to serve Him.It is bad enough when others fool us, but worse when we fool ourselves.Don’t take your ‘life’ too lightly – you may be killing yourself.
Thirdly, too often money becomes an idol that we put before God.How many times have you overspent on something you really don’t need and then find yourself too short financially to tithe?What’s your excuse to God?
Mankind has always used others, things, time and situations as excuses and if you read the verses listed above and read on to see what’s God’s responses are you may find that He doesn’t accept excuses.
You moms out there… when your child gives you an excuse:Do you believe it?Do you accept it?How do you deal with it?
Spouses: Are you patient with excuses…no really, patient –
Employers – are you buying into the employee’s excuses due to consistent tardiness or lack of responsibility? Teachers/students: How do you feel when the teacher errs or when the student is lazy?
Now… what’s your excuse?What is expected of the believer?One thing I can tell you for sure – if you stop making excuses you will find more time, energy and vision to accomplish great things for God.When you stop making excuses you start living according to the will of God.How can I say that?Because when you are out of the habit of making excuses…you are in the habit of living according to the desire of Jesus Christ.Excuses cripple you, your faith, your spiritual growth and can even cripple those around you who observe your life style...you may be living a lie.
Colossians 1:10“…that you might live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way.”(NIV)
Walking in Peace / division of C.O.P.E. Women's Ministries Sue Puff, author