www.bible.com/reading-plans/24911/day/4

This is one of the devotionals that I am reading as we approach Easter and I want to share today’s with you along with the insight I received from it. Each devotional starts with an infographic that clearly explains what C. S. Lewis’s theme was. Today’s topic was about making excuses.

I am one who really hates it when someone I confront makes an excuse. They come up with things like, “Well, this other person was already doing that, so I just joined in.” Or, “Before I knew it, I was part of it.” Or the best one, “No harm, no foul. Yes, it was wrong, but no one got hurt, so it’s all good.”

Now imagine, if you will, standing before the Father and saying these things. You don’t think it really happens? Yes, it does! I have even found myself justifying my action to the Father instead of just simply approaching His throne and asking for forgiveness. It seems like a simple thing to do but in actuality it is hard to humble yourself and honestly admit that you were wrong, that what you did was a sin against God. We can justify things by saying that the end result was not what we had planned to happen, but it’s the start of sin where we have to say “no” and turn away. God wants a heart change, not excuses that show that we are not taking responsibility for our actions.

Think about Jesus on the cross. He bore our sins; He took responsibility for our choices, choices He would never make because although He was tempted, He never sinned. God knows our humanity, so He provided Jesus to save us from our sins. God also knows that we will face temptation, so He provided the Holy Spirit to remind us of what is wrong and what is right, according to God’s Word. Once again, it is a case of making choices and really listening to what the Spirit is saying to us. If we are making excuses for our actions, then we weren’t paying attention when the Spirit tried to warn us away from that wrong decision. Once we have made that wrong choice, if we then make excuses, then we are not listening the heart of the Father who desires true repentance, a true turning away from sin, not a flippant, “But it’s all good now” attitude. I need to take today’s devotional and ponder it some more, but it really spoke to me and I hope that it speaks to you.