Last week, we had our first big snow of the season. This combined with the holidays shut a lot of things down or, at the very least, slowed them down to a crawl for a day or two. With this in mind, I was just curious what everybody did. Did you take that time to go out and make snow angels or cuddle up with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book? Did you take that time to do something spectacular or use it to do something spectacularly mundane? Seriously, what did you do?
You know, when we get “free days” like that, there certainly are a lot of things we like to do and try to do. Now, let me ask you this: does “reading your Bible” or “praying a prayer of joyful thanksgiving” ever make it on that list?
So many times, you will hear people (maybe even yourself) say things like “I’m just so busy with work and my kids’ school stuff and this-that-and-the-other. I just can’t find the time to spend on reading my Bible or praying (or going to church). I mean, if your life was this hectic, you couldn’t find the time either.” And, when you hear these things, you know what they are, don’t you? They’re excuses. And, do you know what excuses are? They are lies we tell others and ourselves to try and excuse us from doing something we’re not supposed to do or from not doing something we’re supposed to do.
In Matthew 5:37, Jesus tells us what our attitude toward excuses should be. In the middle of discussing the subject of honesty with regard to yourself, your spouse, and everyone else, Jesus commands us to “let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’.” Here, Jesus says for us to say what we mean and mean what we say. And, Jesus follows this up with this thought: “For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” In this one short passage, Jesus tells us what our attitude towards excuses should be: essentially, if we don’t say what we mean and mean what we say, then we’re sinning against God; therefore, if we are Christians, then we shouldn’t be in the business of making excuses like “I’m too busy, tired, forgetful, or whatever to engage in spiritual exercise.”
I was talking to a brother in Christ about this on the day it snowed and he made a point I’d like to share with you. Maybe those “free days” are God’s answer to those excuses. Maybe God is saying to us, “You say that you’re too busy to read or pray? Well, let Me slow things down for you. Here’s a snow day. Now, what are you going to do with it?” Now, I’m not trying to put words into God’s mouth, but it is an interesting thought to consider because every day is a blessing from the Lord with which we can and should glorify Him, snow day or not (Psalm 118:24).
You know, we always find the time, no matter how busy or tired we are, to do those things which are really important to us. If we make excuses regarding godly things, then what does that really say about how important God and His things are to us?
With all of this in mind, let me ask you one last question: what will you do come the next snow day: will you take the time to read and pray? If you answer to the affirmative, then remember the words of Jesus and do your best to follow through with your answer. And, I hope that we realize that we don’t have to wait until the next snow day to do this. Take the time today and everyday to read the Bible and to pray to God.
I pray that we all come to say “Yes” to God and His things and to say “No” to making excuses of any sort. Make God and His things of the highest priority in your life and don’t let anything get in your way. May God bless us in this noble effort of honesty.
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