Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11

Excuses. People do like to make excuses.

Let me explain. Not so long ago I was talking with a dedicated teacher from one of our fantastic parochial schools.

She had been talking about homework, and eventually began speaking about excuses children give when their homework isn't finished.

I asked, "What's the best excuse a student has ever given for not turning in his homework?"

She admitted she'd heard some inventive explanations, but one did stand out above the rest. The excuse came from a boy who said, "My family and I went on a hot-air balloon ride and we were going to crash because there was too much weight in the basket. In order to save our lives, I had to throw my homework out, and it worked."

Now you know and I know a student shouldn't lie to his teacher, but this is a marvelous bit of imagination.

Truly, the Lord must be amazed at our excuses. We humans can come up with an excuse for anything we don't want to do.

For some things that's okay, but it's not all right when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. Think about it. When it came to saving us, the Lord Jesus never made up excuses. He didn't call in sick from His role as Redeemer.

On the contrary, He was faithful in doing all that needed to be done so we could be saved.

Following His example, let us all join together in getting rid of the excuses and doing the work entrusted to us by the Lord.


From a devotion originally written for "By the Way"



THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, help us get rid of our excuses and substitute for them a willingness to do the work You have entrusted to us. This we pray in the Name of the Savior who never made excuses when it came to saving us. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Ezra 1-2    1 John 4

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