No Excuses

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

NO EXCUSES

Luke 10:29-37

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 

NIV

After Jesus tells this man in order to inherit eternal like he must love the Lord our God with all his heart, soul, strength and mind, as well as love his neighbor as his self, this man certainly has a problem. It is not with loving God, as he is an expert in the law and thus tries to live by it, to please God. That is at least what his outward appearance is. But when he hears this answer, he tries to justify himself by asking who is his neighbor. Before we even get to the question Jesus poses to him in response to his question, we have a life lesson that should be explored. When we read the scriptures, or hear a sermon which speaks to our heart, do we try to justify our actions or inactions for that matter? When we are not doing what we know we should be doing, do we try to justify our inaction with some excuse? Certainly we might think we get away with it when dealing with other people. When we have a responsibility or have made some commitment, but then decline to fulfill it because we are not feeling good, or perhaps just lost interest or something better came up, are we simply trying to justify our lack of commitment or because we just don’t want to do it. Do we justify what we do, especially when it is wrong in the eyes of another person? We might get away with it, if we are smooth enough in our defense. But what about God? Do we ever think we can get away with justifying either our sin, actions, or our sin, inactions? When God declares that we should do something or behave in a certain way do we try to justify ourselves by claiming we are just human and we are bound to fail? Perhaps we find another reason why we should not do what he has asked of us, or behave in the way he desires us. Whatever our reasons for not doing or behaving there is no word other than disobedience which defines our refusal and no attempt to justify that will work. We simply cannot justify, give God an acceptable excuse for our bad behavior. We also cannot give him a satisfactory reason for our failure to comply with his directions for our lives. We simply cannot justify ourselves, God is the only one who can and already has justified us to himself. He did that through being his own sacrifice which he demands for sin. How could we who have already been justified attempt to justify ourselves to him? There is no excuse for what we do or do not do. We are sinners, plain and simple and we need the blood of Jesus to cover us. God has provided for our justification. But we still should try to live in a manner which pleases him, but knowing there is no need to attempt to render any excuse for failure. Yes, we need to repent and ask forgiveness. Yes, we failed. Yes, it is wrong, but no excuses, no trying to justify what we did or didn’t do. Admit error and keep trying to do what is right and not doing what is wrong. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Satan might try to make us feel guilty and the need to justify our behavior, but God does not make us feel guilty. The Spirit will convict us of our errors, but only to show us so we can repent and seek forgiveness and live in the justification God did for us.