Excuses, Excuses! You hear them every day, don’t you? What excuses have you made or were given to you by someone this week? Here is a list of some that we usually hear from time to time:- The cost is too great. It’s too embarrassing. It’s too hard. People will laugh at me. I can’t do it. I’m too busy. I’m not that smart. He/she can do it better. I don’t have the time.

Mrs. Marilyn Hodge

I’m not good at that. I’m needed elsewhere. I don’t know how. I’m too afraid. I’m too tired. It takes too long. It hurts too much. You don’t pay me enough to do all that. We’ve never done it that way before. We don’t have enough money. Sounds familiar? Do any of those excuses sound like you? What’s your typical excuse?
Well, making excuses for not wanting to do something, or for making mistakes, is not new. In fact, we can trace this undesirable habit all the way back to the Garden of Eden and right through the Bible. The Bible is filled with many characters who made excuses. The people that inhabit its pages were real people with real problems, just like us. The Bible does not shy away from presenting both the strengths and weaknesses of those it portrays. This makes the characters in the Bible "practical", in the sense that we can relate to them, and educational in the sense that we can learn from their successes and failures.
Here are some Bible characters who made excuses:-

1. Adam and Eve's Excuse -"Don't Look At Me" (Genesis 3:12-13)
When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden He gave them only one restriction. He told them not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When God confronted them about their choice , they began making excuses.

2. Cain's Excuse -"Looking Out For Number One" (Genesis 4:9)
Cain lied when confronted by God about his brother's whereabouts. Cain sinned by murdering his own brother, among other things, and when confronted with what he did (not giving God the sacrifice He deserved) he became defensive. He made excuses. Cain did not want to take responsibility for his actions.

3. Satan's Excuse - "I Will" (Ezekiel 28:13-15)
Of all the created beings, Satan was given the greatest position in heaven. He was the covering cherub around God's throne. He was the most beautiful angel. He was also a musical creature. What was Satan's excuse? Pride! He wasn't satisfied with what he had. He didn't want to be the best, first or most important in his field, even though he was a one-of-a-kind being. He didn't want to be near God. He didn't want to serve God. He wanted to be God. What follows are the five "I will's" of a proud heart and the end of a promising career.
Satan's five steps up the corporate ladder:

STEP ONE: Storm the gates. "I will ascend into heaven."

STEP TWO: Declare yourself leader of your co-workers. "I will exalt my throne above the stars (the other angels) of God."

STEP THREE: Give yourself a more important position. "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north."

STEP FOUR: Move into
the boss's office; put your feet up on his desk. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds."

STEP FIVE: Overthrow and replace the boss. "I will be like the most High."
Pride is a sin that is spelled "S" as in self; "I" as in me and "N" as in nobody else.

4. The Excuse of the People of Noah's Day -"Seeing Is Believing"
Noah preached for 120 years and he had no converts. Day after day the people heard about God's wrath and His coming judgment. Yet no one believed Noah. Why would God do such a thing they reasoned? For one hundred twenty years they heard about rain and a flood. But no one believed. What they couldn't see they wouldn't believe. Since they had never seen rain they refused to believe in it or what it could do. The people of Noah's day displayed tremendous disbelief and as a result they all perished.

5. Lot's Excuse - "Let's Wait And See What Happens" (Genesis 19:15-16)
When visited by angels and told to flee the wickedness of the city in which he took up residence because the Lord was about to destroy it, Lot took a wait-and-see attitude. When God tells you to do something, whether or not He tells you why, you had better do it or you will suffer the consequences. Don't quench the Holy Spirit; act immediately.
6. Moses' Excuse -"Who? Me ?"(Exodus 4:1 -13)
Moses gives God five of the weakest excuses God ever heard. Yet God in His wisdom, and not willing to take "no" for an answer from those whom He calls, comes back with an irrefutable response every time Moses made excuses about what he commanded him to do.

Excuse #1
Moses: "But God, I couldn't possibly do what you are asking of me. I have no experience in the negotiation business."
God: "I'll go with you and tell you what to say and give you a bonus (the Promised Land) when you have finished the job."

Excuse #2
Moses: "Ah, God, I don't want them to get mad at me so who should I say sent me?"
God: "Don't worry, Moses, they know who I AM."

Excuse #3
Moses: What if they don't believe me?" God: "Don't worry about that, I've got it covered. They love signs. I'll give them signs."

Excuse #4
Moses: "But L-Lord, I st-st-stutter. And it's worse when I'm n-n-nervous. Who's going to l-l-listen to me?" God: "I made your tongue and I can make you speak to be understood."

Excuse #5
Moses: "I hate to bring this up Lord, but I killed a man and I've been eating dust for forty years. Can't you find someone else?"
God: "I don't want anyone else. You're just the man for the job. You used to be a somebody. You were a prince of Egypt. I couldn't use you then. Now you're a nobody. I specialize in nobodies. Now I can use you."

Luke 14:18-20 also outlines a series of excuses given by the various people that were originally invited to a great feast. In Jesus’ parable, the feast represents the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and those that are invited would thereafter enter into eternal life. It states, “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.”
There you see it my friends, nothing is new under the sun. Making excuses is not new. What is your excuse today to yourself, to others and to God? Here are some things to ponder and reflect on:-
• You know you should be in church. What excuses do you come up with for not going?
• We are admonished to read the Bible. (Matthew 22:29) What is your excuse for not reading it?
• What are you doing for God that you think is adequate but know that it is not pleasing to the Lord because your heart is not really in it? Are you really giving your all or just what you feel like?
• What is your excuse for not giving your life fully to Christ? What is hindering you from doing so?
• What is your excuse for not praying?
• What is your excuse for not telling people about Jesus Christ?

• What is your excuse for not surrendering everything to God?
• What is your excuse for not stepping out by faith?
• What is your excuse for not doing something for God?

• What is your excuse for not training your children as God commanded?
• What is your excuse for not taking care of your elderly parents?
• What is your excuse for not being more active in making a difference in your community or your country? To defuse the power of your favourite excuse and move past it, you must first acknowledge that it does have a hold on you. Let us focus today on confessing our most frequent and stubborn excuses for not doing what Got or others ask of us.
God is still asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go?” Excuses, excuses, excuses. What are yours?
Remember - He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.

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