Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’, Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.” – Luke 14:8-20

From the beginning of time people have made excuses. Adam blamed Eve, she blamed the snake and the excuses keep coming as people continue to make them and not take responsibility for their own choices and the consequences that follow.

But before we judge to harshly, we need to take a look at our own excuses. By definition excuses serve as justification to relieve oneself of obligation. We’ve all made them at some time or other for why we do the things we do or why we are the way we are. In the end, they are all the same…….excuses.

As my Royal Make Over began one of the first items of business that needed to be addressed was the excuses that I make. To my surprise, the first one was about fasting. During Lent is one of those times that fasting is the first thing on my mind. What will I give up to grow closer to God as I eagerly anticipate celebrating the Resurrection of The Lord on Easter, which is my favorite holiday of the year? Some of the first options for me always include food, but I quickly make the excuse that it then becomes a diet rather than an act of self denial and desire to trust God.

My justification and obedience to the wrong voice quickly relieves me of giving up one of the things that I rely on more than God. That’s a harsh reality, but sometimes the truth hurts. Yes, many times I’ve relied on food for comfort, acceptance, relief and emotional support rather than turning to God.

Of course my reliance on food, a false god, has only backfired and created a bigger mess than the reason I turned to it in the first place. Now I see why God wanted me to start this Royal Make Over by removing the very things that have sabotaged me over and over again, my excuses.

Are there excuses that you are using to justify why you are not making needed changes in your life? Perhaps you need to hear this reality for yourself. “If we find that certain foods are impossible to walk away from – we can’t or won’t deny ourselves an unhealthy choice – then it’s a clue we are being ruled by this food at some level. Being ruled by something other than God diminishes our commitment and will make us feel increasingly distant from Him.”

This is true not only of food but can include, alcohol, drugs, sex, social media, ambition and so much more. Anything that we allow to take the place of God in our lives is nothing more than an idol and tool of the enemy to keep us from experiencing all that God has offered to us.

For this Royal Make Over to work, removing the excuses, the idols, is mandatory. It will take determined effort to remove years of wrong devotion and thoughts, but it will be worth it.