Luke 14:16-18 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse.
Excuse: to make allowance for a short-coming; to overlook; to serve as justification.
A young boy was causing trouble for his mother as they traveled down the freeway in their automobile. His mother had to pull the car over to deal with him. That night at dinner, his mother asked, “Do you want to tell dad what happened in the car today?” The young boy replied with excitement, “YES! Dad, Mom didn’t wear her seat belt today!”
Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Charles Spurgeon reminded us, “Excuse-making is the most common trade under Heaven!” Excuses are everywhere, every day, every minute. You won’t need to look far to find them. You can even find excuses in the Bible if you choose to see them:
○ Noah was a drunk (Genesis 9:21)
○ Abraham was too old (Genesis 17:17)
○ Jacob was a liar (Genesis 27)
○ Leah was ugly (Genesis 29:16-18)
○ Joseph was abused (Genesis 37:22-28)
○ Moses had a stuttering problem (Exodus 4:10)
○ Gideon was Unsure (Judges 6:15)
○ Samson was a womanizer (Judges 16:17) (Judges 16:5)
○ Rahab was a harlot (Joshua 2:1)
○ Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
○ David had an affair and was a murderer (2 Samuel 11:2-4) (2 Samuel 11:14-17)
○ Elijah was suicidal (1 Kings 19:4)
○ Johan ran from God (Jonah 1:3)
○ Naomi was a widow (Ruth 1:3)
○ Job went bankrupt (Job 1:21)
○ Peter denied Christ (Mark 14:71)
○ The Disciples fell asleep while praying (Mathew 26:40)
○ Martha worried much (Luke 10:40-42)
○ The Samaritan woman was divorced multiple times (John 4:17-18)
○ Zaccheus was too small (Luke 19:2-3)
○ Paul was too religious
○ And Lazarus was too dead (John 11)
If you need an excuse, you have enough here to last you a long time! However, when it comes to the Bible, we are reminded that we are without excuse. This should cause every Christian to pause.
What would it look like if we all decided to take extreme ownership? Remember, every Christian will stand before God and give an account of what kind of work he has done. “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.” This is not meant to scare us. It is meant to motivate us! Here are three areas that would serve us well to never make an excuse.
1. Fellowship
2. Fruit
3. Faithfulness
Fellowship
Spending time with God is one area that we easily allow excuses to get in the way. In the morning we wake up late, and in the evening we are tired. We must desire to spend time with God like we desire food. If spending time with God is a struggle for you, remember this: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” Matthew 4:4.
Start the day in His Word! If you miss it that morning, that’s ok. Start a habit of reading before you allow yourself to eat. You will be faithfully reading your Bible in no time! We are told it takes 90 days to create a habit. Do your best to not make excuses, and read your Bible every day for three months straight!
Fruitfulness
God makes it clear that He desires fruit from His children. He wants us to share our faith with others. At times, fear can cause us to be worried about sharing Christ. People may tease us, look at us differently, or even think we are stupid or weird. These things are all true, but we have to only think of Christ and His promises to push through those fears and excuses.
Try to always carry tracts when you leave your home and memorize the verses on the back. God promises us that if we ask Him for fruit, He will provide it! He tells us if we follow Him, He will make us fishers of men! There’s no excuse for us not to be fruitful!
Faithfulness
I’ve heard it said that a Christian’s faithfulness should be measured in decades rather than years. I am disappointed to report that I have seen too many strong faithful Christians quit on God. It always seems to be the same, watered-down excuses. They blame others for their lack of a relationship with God, and tend to revert back to their old sins.
This topic of faithfulness always brings me back to the three Hebrew boys. These young men were challenged to disobey God or be thrown into the fire pit. Their response was classic. “We are not careful to answer thee in this matter.”
Do you know what that meant? They decided what their answer was before they were confronted by the king. If a Christian desires to remain faithful to God, he must think of the worst possible situation and decide right now how he will respond.
Luke 14:16-18 “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse.”
Let’s remember the parable we started with. The king was inviting everyone to a party. The visitors all made excuse. Just like these men, we have been invited to the party by the King of kings. He has invited us to experience His blessings. Let’s not make the same mistake.
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