No Excuses

I find myself making excuses all the time. I was running late and blamed it getting caught in the office. I could have politely excused myself about three minutes earlier and I’d been on time. I heard a preacher define “Excuse” many years ago and it has stuck with me.

“An excuse is the skin off of reason, stuffed with a lie.”

That stings a bit because there is often truth in that statement. I guess I’m differentiating between the word “reason” and the word “excuse”.  The word “reason” carries with it “explanation and maybe justification”.

The Apostle Paul pushes back hard on the wickedness that he had heard about in the church at Rome. He called out the people who were ignoring God. He called out their behavior because it reflected their heart. Check this out…

¹⁹ They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. ²⁰ For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1:19-20 NLT)

I’ve seen the hand of God in my life.

I’ve also seen His hand in the lives of others.

I’ve noticed Him in His creation.

I’ve noticed Him in my struggle.

I’ve noticed Him in my suffering.

I have no excuse for not believing in Him and following Him. There is sometimes a disconnect with my faith and the activities of my life. I don’t always do things that reflect what I say I believe. That’s where my excuse comes into play.

I want to stop making excuses and simply live out my life to honor Him.

I want to be truthful and plain spoken when explaining my thought processes. I want the people around me to see Jesus in my life and how I live. I want them to have no excuses for not seeing God.

Pressing On!

Dwayne