Today's Devotional
May 5, 2006
Subject: Excuse My Lying
Luke 14:18-20 - "And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come."
We held our annual awards ceremony. Being near the end of the school year, many of the students had become apathetic about attending school and any functions that we held. However, we didn't give them an option in ROTC and they knew that. That didn't seem to matter to one class of students. In one class, can you believe that on the night of the ceremony, the following events all happened:
Student 1: "I got home and my dog wasn't breathing so I rushed him to the doctor."
Student 2: "My grandfather was going to have to get his legs amputated but then they didn't do it."
Student 3: "My grandmother got gravely sick and we had to go see her."
Student 4: "My parents left and at the last minute told me that I had to babysit."
When I approached the students about their excuses, I asked them what they thought the odds were of all of those things happening at the same time. They soon realized that their excuses were simply that, excuses.
I've always believed that in life, people always do exactly what they want to do. That happens in the church also. Is there an excuse for you to miss worship, bible study or anything else? Of course there is. You simply didn't want to go. However, many people have a hard time simply saying, "I didn't want to go," so they make excuses which end up as lies in their mouths.
Perhaps in the end, some excuses could be valid, but I'm not checking for that, God is. He sees the heart and He knows the intentions of man. Make sure when you make your next excuse, you're not excusing your sin of lying.
