Excuses

     We all make excuses.  You, I, them, the other person; all make excuses.  After we make an excuse we use our old friends and allies, rationalization and justification, to feel better about our excuses.  I don't like making excuses for anything.  I try to be up front and honest wherever I am.  Sometimes I fail.  I didn't stop for that yellow light because I was going to fast to stop safely.  Sound familiar?  I didn't tell my boss the truth for fear he would discipline me.  "I" is generally the first word that comes when we are making excuses and the last word that comes up when we are being accountable.  In the middle of it all is "but" who makes all things from the world's standpoint okay.  Actually not.  The three together make up a simple excuse a sin.  Excuses were foreign to Jesus and should be to us as well.  Didn't get up in time to go to church?  Maybe God would rather have you late rather then absent.  You and I try our best to get away with whatever we can and use excuses to excuse ourselves from accountability.
     I didn't have time to pray.
     I didn't have time to read the Bible.
     I didn't have the call to minister to others.
     I didn't....
     See how easy it is to start an excuse?  Here's the truth:
     I didn't make time to pray like I do watching sports or gossiping.
     I didn't make time to read the Bible because I was spending time on social media.
     I didn't answer the call to minister because I don't care about others
     I didn't....
     Now we have the next revelation in front of us, our excuses, justification and rationalization.  We made the choice to put all sorts of things before Jesus.  We deliberately choose to sin.  You and I do that.  The Bible says we ask and don't receive because we ask with wrong motives.  We choose our selfishness and then expect God to answer our vain requests.  We might even throw a good word about our Grandmother to show God how right our hearts and minds are.  All in vain.  We ask and receive not because we ask for selfish motives...to gain for ourselves.  Then we make excuses about our behavior and think it's okay.
     I am accountable to God.  You are too.  I am not beyond reproach.  Neither are you.  The lives of the unsaved are on our heads when we make excuses for our behavior, decisions and avoidance.  We know better but fail to allow Christ to live in and through us.  How can people see Christ if we keep making excuses.  Remember, it's always your choice.