Excuses, Excuses!

King Saul’s case: One day Samuel said to Saul, “Now listen to this message from the Lord . . . Go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation - men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.” . . . Then Saul and his army slaughtered the Amalekites . . . he captured Agag, the Amalekite king . . . and spared the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs - everything that appealed to them. 1 Samuel 15:1-9

Adam and Eve’s case: The Lord said, “Don’t eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” . . . They ate the fruit and when confronted by God, he said, “the woman you gave me brought the fruit and I ate it.” She stated, “The serpent made me.” Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-13

These are just some examples of excuses for disobedience found in the Bible. They thought they could adjust God’s commands to their way of thinking. However, dire consequences followed: God stripped King Saul of his kingdom and placed curses on Adam and Eve. Am I any better?

No, for I, too, make excuses for my disobedience. In my younger days, my reasons for going against my parents’ rules included: “we only went a little bit into the forest” and “I didn’t know we would go to her house.” Consequences? Certainly! I was frequently caught, grounded and my allowance was withheld. In my younger days as a believer, I excused my sinful behaviour with, “Oh, surely, it doesn’t really matter if I do such-and-such – it’s not hurting anybody! And God will forgive me anyway.” Consequences? Yes! A barrier came between God and me as I refused to turn away from my disobedience.

Today, I am much more compliant as I aim to obey God with all my heart, soul, mind and body. Even though I shudder at the mere thought of disobeying Him, I was not surprised when my desire to obey was tested recently at a missions awareness meeting. As I knew who the speaker was and a little bit about her cause, I anticipated that I would want to contribute financially but planned to wait for God to direct me. At the onset of the presentation, I thought, “I’ll give this much to her group. Any amount will help.” By the time she was halfway through, I could sense God nudging me to donate a higher amount. “Ok, God. I’ll get out my cheque now.” Um, looked in my wallet and, no cheques. “Oh well, I’ll write one when I get home and mail it to her.”

Later, as I carried on with other things, excuses to give less kept drifting through my head. “Oh, I never actually told her how much I would give, so she won’t know if I give less than I was earlier thinking.” “Actually, I didn’t even tell her I would send a cheque, so if I don’t, I won’t be breaking any commitment.” “Hey, I was saving that money for my own purposes.” “I’m sure someone else will give to her cause.”

Well, God would have none of these excuses!
The guilt started building, my stomach started to
churn and my heart beat faster. “OK God, I’ll write the cheque now and for the higher amount
that you wanted!” Whew! I wrote the cheque and mailed it.

Forgive me, Lord, for considering disobedience even if just for two hours. Strengthen me to obey faster next time!