I remember the time before I was a Christian when I needed an excuse for not going to work, or keeping an appointment with a friend, or some other responsibility I was trying to shirk. I remember how I would try and come up with the most believable and the easiest one to remember. I didn’t get real complex or elaborate, because the more involved I was with the excuse the more likely I was to mess it up. For instance, often times I would say that I was sick but I would never elaborate on symptoms. I figured that if they weren’t going to believe the lie of me throwing up all night, they wouldn’t believe anything. And besides that, if I spent a lot of time on an excuse then I wouldn’t have enjoyed the time that I was making the excuse for in the first place! Duhhh! Needless to say I became a pretty good liar even to the point of believing some of the lies myself. Go figure! I became pretty good at shirking my duties but pretty bad at fulfilling my responsibilities. Thus, I was strong in self-justification but weak in character, and that, was plenty of ammunition for my conscience. Do you know what it is like to be telling somebody something that you know in your heart isn’t true?
Well anyway, when I became a Christian I never had to worry about that sort of thing again. Even to the smallest of things –like answering (or not answering) my telephone. I was talking to someone the other day about making excuses. They couldn’t go to church because of this… they didn’t pray about that because… they forgot to read their Bible because… “You know.” I said to them. “Forget about becoming a strong Christian. If you keep making excuses like that, the only thing you’ll be strong about is –making excuses.” We want God to strengthen us but we keep making excuses for ourselves when we fail to fulfill our responsibilities. God isn’t concerned with our excuses but He’ll bless our obedience. Do you remember Jesus telling the parable of those invited to the banquet and everyone seemed to have an excuse? “I just bought some land… I just bought a team of oxen… I just got married…” But in the end the door was shut and the folks who had excuses were shut out possessing only their excuses and their tears. No matter how you look at it, God strengthens those who obey His Word and He will withhold no good thing those whose walk is upright. Fulfilling our responsibilities to God, to Jesus Christ and to His Church and yes, to the world, will strengthen us in the long run. There are no short cuts. There are no magical “abra-ca-dabras”. There is only obedience motivated by trust and faith expressing itself through love.
“Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation –but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.”
Romans 8:12-14