Exodus 22:22-24
Aaron said, “Master, don’t be angry. You know this people and how set on evil they are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.’
“So I said, ‘Who has gold?’ And they took off their jewelry and gave it to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
One day when I was visiting my niece and her children, Timothy said, “Mommy told me… ‘GO TO YOUR ROOM!’” (he said it in a very stern, loud voice). His mother said, “Tell Aunt Debbie the rest of the story!” “Well…” Timothy began… and with his mother’s help, he explained how he had gotten up early and helped himself to the cupcakes sitting atop the kitchen counter. I guess you could say this was his “golden calf” moment. In his mind, he was innocent… totally justified. His mother was the “bad guy” just as the Israelites were Aaron’s downfall. It certainly was not his fault at all! After all… she brought the cupcakes into the house to tempt him!
For many of us – in many circumstances - “the devil made us do it.” We have all sorts of excuses for the things we say and do… but none of them involve taking personal responsibility for them. We are persuaded by friends, co-workers, relatives, leaders, and even the media to believe one way or another… and to act accordingly. We blame anyone and everyone. It’s not our fault… it never is! And if another person is not directly responsible, we blame the environment, the weather, or even the economy! And we don’t have the luxury of claiming three-year-old innocence/ignorance! We know better… we just choose to do as we please and hope that we aren’t caught!
And if all of this is not enough, we have a whole other set of excuses to offer God about our life as a disciple of Christ. We blame our sins and lack of faithfulness on everything from the outside influences of others to a sense of inadequacy as a Christian to… yes… the devil! We are so busy charging ahead and living as we please that we don’t wait on the LORD for guidance and answers. We don’t give God a chance to fulfill His promises… we don’t allow Him room to work. We want a cupcake, so to speak… and we want it now! And when things go badly, we are always like Aaron or the errant child… we haven’t a clue how it happened. All we did was toss some “gold” into the fire, and out popped a “calf idol”! (You can substitute your own “gold” and “idols”… because I’m pretty sure we have all had them at one time or another!)
So where does this leave us? Hopefully, you can see that making excuses to God is ridiculous… and a waste of breath. He knows better – even if we don’t! It’s time for us to “come clean”… to own up to our mistakes and missteps… and to fervently and sincerely make every effort to do better. We need to spend some serious time in prayer and communication with God… to reaffirm our commitment to live for Him and to fulfill His purposes for our lives. And we need to ask for patience! In other words… it’s time for us to grow up!
We are called to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth… to share His Good News with others… and we can’t do this if we are constantly going off on tangents and doing as we please – or listening to the persuasions of others and addressing their agendas! Who are you serving these days? Are you waiting on a word from God before you act? Are you listening to the wrong people and then blaming someone else for your mistakes? Isn’t it time to pull the plug on all of that and start living the life to which God has called you? What do you say… aren’t you tired of making excuses?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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