There were many powerful moments at the retreat that I recently
attended. Moments that I pray I will
never forget. Moments that changed me
and have made me want to be more like Jesus than ever before.
One of our speakers led us through the crucifixion. From the beginning to the end…he explained
every detail of Christ’s suffering. I’ve
heard about this many times before and even read about it over and over but
never has it impacted me like it did on that recent day. When he was done and the time came for us to
discuss what we had just heard…we all just sat in silence. There were no words that could be said to
explain why someone would willingly go through such unimaginable suffering for
me…and for you.
What I experienced that day, reminded me that many of our
excuses are pretty lame when compared to what Christ did for us. How many times have we refused to do
something that we knew Christ wanted us to do…because our schedule was just too
full to add His agenda to our list?
Jesus, knowing the agony that He would have to endure for God’s plan to
be carried out, prayed to His Father, “Father,
if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want
your will to be done, not mine.” (Luke 22:42) How many times have we reasoned that we had
every right to snub someone because they hadn’t treated us right? Christ, after being beaten, spit on, jeered
at and nailed to a cross prayed, concerning those who had just tortured Him, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what
they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34) And, how many times have we whined and
complained that He was silent and not giving us the direction that we needed…all while our Bible sat
unopened by our chair? Christ willingly
endured being tortured and crucified for our sins so that we can spend eternity
with Him. Why wouldn’t we want to study
His Word so that we can be more like Him?
Excuses. The dictionary
says that to use an excuse is to justify something or give a false reason. If we are honest, none of our actions can be
justified when they aren’t pleasing to Christ. We have no excuse for not doing His will…for
not reaching out to help others…for not forgiving those who have hurt us…for
not spending time with Him every day in prayer and reading His Word. Because He gave everything He had for us…we
have no excuse at all.
“But that’s no life
for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful
attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in
Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do
mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten
through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of
life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into
your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.”
Ephesians 4:20-24 The Message
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