Excuses

TITLE: Excuses
DATE: November 24, 2019

Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.

TEXT: 1 Timothy 2:5-6 – ESV - 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[a] Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. The Bible is filled with them.
​
If you think I am exaggerating take a look at the beginning chapters of Scripture. God had created and given a perfect Garden home to Adam and Eve. It took only a few verses before they proved themselves to be unworthy of the gift and disobedient to the Giver.
​
When the time of reckoning came the Lord talked to Adam and basically asked “What did you do?” Knowing he is cornered, Adam shows his creativity by inventing the very first excuse. Without missing a heat he throws his wife under the bus. “I didn’t wanna Lord, but You know how it is. The woman You gave me.. she’s the one who is responsible.”

You may have noticed that Adam’s excuse also points to the Lord as being partly to blame for sin entering the world.

The Lord turns to Eve and asks for an explanation. Being the quick learner that she is, Eve copies her husband and throes the snake under the bus. Soon all of them are punished and condemned for their nefarious workings.

Read just a little bit further and you will see Cain will murder his little brother. When the Lord comes around asking about Able,  the little brother, Cain’s excuse and attitude are truly defiant? “Able? Able? How would I know where my brother is? Do I look like I’m his keeper?”

Yup, the Bible is filled with excuses.                                                                            

Of course excuses don’t stop when the last verses of Revelation were penned. 52-year-old Belinda Foindren is proof of that. Belinda worked as an enterprising and creative clerk at a Physician’s office. Quite possibly she was too creative and enterprising.

You see Belinda was selling Physician’s excuses to High School students.

For $20.00, Belinda would get you out of a class; out of a test, out of any part of the academic life you disliked or were not prepared for. Belinda would have gotten away with the con if it hadn’t been for two teens who used a physician’s excuse on fourteen different occasion
​
That big number caused the school to call up the doctor and ask. He said, he didn’t write the excuses and he didn’t treat the students.

And Belinda got arrested.

Now there is a lesson to be learned here. Whether it be in Bible times or in our times, a bad excuse is worthless. When it comes to our salvation and forgiveness, none of our excuses are going to hold any water. God will brush them aside. That’s because He is looking for justice and not excuses.

What the Divine Judge needs to hear is that our sins have been washed from our repentant hearts by our Lord and Savior. Jesus’ sacrifice, not our well-rehearsed excuses is what He wants

THE PRAYER: Lord, I give thanks that Jesus has done all which was necessary for my salvation. I give thanks that today You accept my praise and not my excuses.  This I ask in the Savior’s Name.  Amen.

The devotion for today was inspired by various recent news articles. For further reading you may wish to go to this address: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/belinda-gail-fondren-fake-notes_n_5dbcb759e4b0fffdb0f6db0d?ncid=engmodushpmg00000006  and the article written by the Associated Press  .

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html