FOR WRITERS

FOR READERS

FOR PUBLISHERS




FREE CHRISTIAN REPRINT ARTICLES

Christian Articles for All of your Publishing Needs!

LIKE US
Translate this Page Here

FOR WRITERS

FOR READERS

FOR PUBLISHERS




Word Count: 779

Send Article To Friend Print/Use Article

Contact Jerry Ousley


Excuses to not Follow

by Jerry Ousley  
10/31/2014 / Christian Living


We are good at making excuses aren't we? An excuse is a reason to say "no." Sometimes there are legitimate excuses. For instance, if you've made a prior engagement and someone invites you to dinner, even though you may really want to go, out of courtesy to the party with which you made the prior engagement you should refuse. That's a small example of a legitimate excuse. More often than not, our excuses are reasons we come up with to get out of something we really don't want to do, but we want to be polite and so we think of something that sounds plausible. For instance, years ago I was invited to do a wedding for a relative. I didn't particularly like this relative who lived in Michigan. Of course living in Michigan had nothing to do with it; I don't have anything against the state of Michigan. I really didn't want to do the wedding. Now I could have done it. But I told him that my minister's license wouldn't be good in the state of Michigan. At that time I really thought this was true. I have since been educated on this matter and know that if I had filed the proper paperwork that I could have performed the wedding in Michigan. But since I didn't really want to do the wedding I let him down as gently as I could and dismissed the matter.

I've always regretted that. Even though I wasn't really fond of this guy I know that he was disappointed with me and I have since felt ashamed. In a way, because I didn't explore the facts my excuse was what we might term a "white lie." It was an untruth disguised with a taint of truth. But folks, in reality a lie is a lie. I have repented of that.

We're good at coming up with excuses. I've heard a lot of them over my life. One of the most comical was one my wife told me about. One day at work, a fellow employee didn't' show up. Of course her excuse was completely different to her boss than what she told Debbie. She had missed work because she didn't have a clean towel with which to shower! I think if she had really wanted to go somewhere she would have come up with a towel from someplace.

In talking about following Jesus, the Bible gives us three examples in which Jesus asked men to follow Him and they came up with an excuse. You can read this in Luke 9:57-62. In the first, Jesus came up with the excuse. A certain man had said to Him, "Lord, I'll follow you wherever you go." Jesus is a Master at looking past the physical, past the words, and straight into the heart. He knew, reading between the lines, that this man loved having the comfort of a home. He told him that the birds have nests, and the foxes have dens, but He had no place to call home. Apparently that was enough because no more was said.

In the second, Jesus asked a man to follow Him. The man told Him that he would but first let him go and bury his father. Again we've got to read between the lines a bit. What the man was really saying was that he would follow Jesus after his father had passed away. That was an excuse. In the third, the individual agreed to follow Jesus after he had gone back and said "good-bye" to his friends and family. That sounds reasonable doesn't it? But we've got to realize that "good-byes" in the Jewish tradition could last for days, weeks, or even months. Jesus' words about a man not placing his hands on the plow is fit for the Kingdom may sound harsh, but again He was looking into the man's heart. He knew that he had no intention of following.

He asks us to follow Him today. In most cases He isn't asking us to just walk off and leave our families and friends, in the natural anyway. But He is asking us to make such a commitment to Him that He becomes more important than anyone else. We should love our families. It is our duty to provide and care for them. But following Jesus must become the primary focus in our lives. Am I a fanatic about this? Perhaps I am. I know that it is extremely important that we put our Lord first in all things, because when we do, and when we are truly following Jesus, every excuse will pale in the presence of our Lord.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Jerry Ousley

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

User Comments

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:


Not readable? Change text.



The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer


Main FaithWriters Site | Acceptable Use Policy

By using this site you agree to our Acceptable Use Policy .

© FaithWriters.com. All rights reserved.