We are a people of excuses. We fall back on them on a daily basis. We get a phone call reminding us of our missed appointment, and we blame our busy schedule; we feel embarrassed at a parent-teacher conference, and we blame our child’s friends for being bad examples.
What are excuses, really? They are no more than a way of shucking the blame from our shoulders to someone else’s. We’ve all heard these:
The devil made me do it.
I’m already doing the best I can.
I’m too busy.
It’s too late for me now.
I don’t have my debt paid off.
What if I can’t make any money at it?
I don’t know where to start.
Everybody who tries this fails.
George Washington once famously said: “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
God’s Word in 1 John 1:9 says:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We can say the devil made us do it, or we can confess and be forgiven. No excuses allowed.
God’s Word in Romans 12:1 says:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
We can say we’re already doing the best we can, or we can step up and be the holy and righteous person God intended from the beginning. No excuses allowed.
God’s Word in Matthew 7:12 says:
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
We can say we don’t have time for other people, or we can be there for them in their time of need; and we can know that we have fulfilled the command of God. No excuses allowed.
God’s Word in Ephesians 2:8 says:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
We can say we have gone too far, and there is no restitution for us; or we can accept the grace of God who saves us through our faith in him. No excuses allowed.
God’s Word in Luke 12:33 says:
“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.”
We can say our debts keep us from participating in the Lord’s work, or we can remove the obstacles so that God can use us as he wills. No excuses allowed.
God’s Word in Acts 20:35 says:
“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
We can say that our venture is an uncertain money maker, or we can accept the prompting of God and understand that money is not his central focus. No excuses allowed.
God’s Word in John 5:39 says:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.”
We can say we don’t know where to start, or we can open God’s Word and begin to read our instruction manual for living a victorious life in him. No excuses allowed.
God’s Word in Galatians 5:16 says:
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
We can say that everyone who tries this fails, or we can accept the Spirit of God into our lives; and we will be empowered to avoid the rocky pitfalls of our earthly man. No excuses allowed.
An old Yiddish proverb tells us: “If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.”
Florence Nightingale said: “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.”
If we want to be a success in our Christian walk, we need to do one thing and one thing only. We need to simply get started. We need to leap out there and find our success, because when we cast all the excuses aside, we can do all that God asks us to do.
When we toss out the excuses, we accept the responsibility to be God’s children.
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