Luke 14:18-20
But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Every single day, we make countless excuses. You may not even realize that you are doing this, but stop and think about your day. One of the first I recall making today was to my mom. We were talking on the phone, and I saw the mail lady bring a package to my door, so I said, “I need to hang up now… someone is at my door.” I told my nephews and niece that I could not stay and visit with them this afternoon, because I had to go to Wal-Mart and shop. I even told one of my cats that I couldn’t feed her… because it wasn’t time for her dinner yet! All of these excuses were legitimate. But we make so many that are not. Rather than be honest – for whatever reason – we make up what we hope is a plausible explanation and hope that the other guy will say, “That’s okay,” or “I understand.”
The problem is that we can easily get into a bad habit of making excuses, and pretty soon, we have an answer for everything! We especially do this with God. We can’t always excuse our way out of work, school, obligations to family and friends… but we are pretty sure we can get God to let us off the hook. He’ll always love us… right? We’re too busy to serve Him. Our “free time” is too precious to spend in worship or doing mission work. We are not talented, smart enough, or physically able to do the things that are asked of us. God will sympathize… won’t He?
The short answer is, “No! He will not!” Understand this… God will always love us – but He will not accept our excuses. If you expand your examination of Luke 14, you will see that Jesus clearly tells us that there is a cost for being a Christian… and for some, this price can seem quite high. In order to fully follow Jesus Christ, some people will have to give up relationships with family members and friends. Some will have to change jobs, kick old habits, and modify a lot of attitudes. There will be Christians who risk their very lives in order to proclaim their discipleship.
Christians were never promised an easy or comfortable life. And this is where so many of us get it wrong. We expect life in Christ to be a cake walk… freely He gives us salvation, and “freely” we plan to take! So when things get awkward, difficult, embarrassing, or unpleasant… when we are called to step out of the box and put our needs on the shelf, the excuses start to flow like a bubbling stream. This doesn’t make us bad people… but it does speak to our level of commitment. Too many of us want to be “a little bit Christian” – the part that gets us into heaven without having to make any sacrifices or step outside our comfort zone.
The time has come for us to stop playing around and making excuses. It is time for us to get serious about our commitment to Christ… to literally take a “leap of faith” and go full in for Jesus. Where will this leave you? Will you have a new spouse, a crop to inspect, or pets and livestock to tend? Or will you be ready to drop what you are doing and go wherever – and whenever – God calls you? The choice is totally ours…how will you decide?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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