For many years there have been running jokes about guys who might ask girls on a date and the girl didn’t want to go out with that particular guy so she would say, “I would but I can’t because I have to wash my hair.” Everyone knows that it is just an excuse, but it is passed off as a reason. I used to hear my sisters give many different reasons for not dating a certain boy and most of the time they were just excuses. They both are now married to men that heard some of these excuses!
Have you ever given an excuse to someone because you didn’t want to do something or be involved in something? I am sure you have. Now we may have a legitimate reason, however, often times those reasons can become excuses.
Now, have you ever given God an excuse for not doing what you know you should be doing? Remember, Moses tried to give God excuses, however, God met every excuse and gave Moses all he needed to accomplish the deed that God was going to send him to do. If you remember one little detail about that exchange between God and Moses, the Bible says that God’s anger burned against Moses (Exodus 4:14). Do you think that God’s anger burns against us when we give excuses? Yes, God is love, however, we often believe that because God is love and we are His children that He will never be angry with us.
I know that God promises forgiveness for sins if we ask. I also believe we need to strive to do things better and learn from our past mistakes. God does not offer excuses, He acts and gives us exactly what we need for life today and for eternity.
Today I am going to offer a challenge to each of us. Let’s make every effort to put God first in our lives for one day, no excuses. I know that some of you are saying to yourselves, “who does this preacher think he is? I already put God first every day.” Well, to that I say congratulations, this challenge is for the rest of us who sometimes make excuses and fail to put God first all the time.
Read Luke 14:15-24