Written by
Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
People who give
excuses at all times never admit their weaknesses; do not accept responsibility
for their misdeeds and failures. Rather than acknowledge their misdeeds, sins
and repent, they give excuses; play the blame game, blaming other people for
their misdeeds, sins and failures.
Adam disobeyed
God, ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and rather
than acknowledge and accept his sin against God, he passed the blame to his
wife who gave him the fruit to eat. The one billion dollar question is – could
he not have said no to Eve because he did not want to disobey God? Eve on the
other hand also played the blame game and passed on the blame to the serpent.
Unfortunately, God does not condone blame games and refusal to acknowledge sin
and acceptance for wrong behavior. He judged all three of them, Adam, Eve and
the serpent. Please see Genesis Chapter 3 for details.
King Saul of
Israel also attempted to play the blame game. Rather than acknowledge his sin
and disobedience, he blamed his actions on pressures from the people. God
judged him immediately. Please see 1st Samuel Chapter 15 verses 1 to
30, 13 verses 1 to 14. Compared to David, Saul never acknowledged his sin and
even when he did, he preferred the honor of his people to publicly repenting
before God (1st Samuel Chapter 15 verse 30). David on the other hand
acknowledged his sins and asked for mercy and forgiveness from God. When
confronted by Nathan, David acknowledged his sin and asked God for mercy. Please
see 2nd Samuel Chapter 12 verses 1 to 15. God forgave David when he
acknowledged his sin and repented. Also, when David numbered the people of
Israel against the will of God, God sent Gad to tell David what he had done and
David acknowledged his sin, repented
and even begged God to heap the consequences of the sin on him and not
the people (1st Chronicles Chapter 21 verses 1 to 19).
God has no time
and respect for people who play blame games. When the Judeans abandoned the
rebuilding of the temple on account of the fierce opposition by the adversaries
of Judah and Benjamin, God did not
accept their excuses, Rather, he punished them until they sat up to access
resources for the completion of the temple. Please see Haggai Chapters 1 and 2.
Thereafter, the people of Judah and Benjamin received the blessings of God.
The Bible also
records that a certain man invited some people to a great supper he gave
unfortunately, those invited gave excuses in order not to partake of the
supper. They had more important activities – land inspection, testing of newly
bought oxen, a marriage, etc. though the man was angry, he asked his servant to
bring in new people from the streets to take the place of those invited.
Significantly, he decreed that all those who gave excuses would not taste his
supper. Please see Luke Chapter 14 verses 16 to 24.
Beloved, little
excuses here and there can ultimately exclude a person from the promises, and
paradise of God. The sick man at the pool of Bethsaida had excused thirty eight
years of his life away – he had no one to put him in the pool. This excuse was
so ingrained in his consciousness that his first response to Jesus’ question as
to whether he would want to be made whole was that he had no one to put him in
the pool and before he made it to the pool, someone always got into the pool
before him. Apparently, he did not realize that Jesus was asking him if he
wanted to be healed and not if he wanted to get into the pool. Jesus knew that
the man’s greatest need was a speedy radical mental paradigm shift – from
giving excuses as to why he could not be healed to desiring healing – a real
thirst and hunger for healing that could only be met by total healing.
That explains
why Jesus asked him to rise first – MOVE, do something, act, refuse to be
incapacitated, move out of I have no one to help me to I can myself succeed
through Christ who strengthens me. The moment he obeyed, gave up excuses, and
set in motion the activity for healing, the Bible records that he was
immediately made whole. Please see John Chapter 5 verses 1 to 9.
Excuses and
refusal to act immobilized him but a radical mental paradigm shift from excuses
and inaction to action mobilized and empowered him. He was healed and free of
an affliction of thirty eight years. The man void of understanding in Proverbs
Chapter 24 allowed the excuses for more sleep and a little extra rest that his
body did not need ruin the beautiful vineyard he owned. The lazy man of
Proverbs Chapter 20 verse 4 excused his laziness and refusal to work with the
false alarm of a fierce lion in the streets.
God has given
you great opportunities that you should take advantage of to become successful
and great. Do away with excuses and attain a permanent position and space on
Success Street. See you there. Shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment