By
Dana Rausch
/ April 7, 2013
But Lord…. He did this….. She said that…… They were unfair….. I didn’t have the money… I was the victim…. Why should I be the one to change? They are the ones that did something wrong. I am not to blame……
Excuse after excuse after excuse. But Lord… If they change…. then I could. If they do _________ then I would _________, but they have to go first…….
Excuse means; to try and free (oneself) of blame, try to minimize or pardon a fault, explanation or reason for an action, to consider an offense or fault not important, release from obligation, justification for behavior, a pretended reason for conduct.
As I continued with my BUT LORD, I tried to justify my behavior because of someone else’s.
John 5:1-9 shares a similar story. As Jesus is going to Jerusalem he passes by a pool where a great number of disabled people would lay around waiting for healing. They were blind, lame or paralyzed. One invalid had been there for 38 years. Yet as Jesus passes by, that one man catches his eye. Now I know that no question is ever stupid… but I questioned that in this particular Bible story.
Jesus stops and asks this man, “DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?” Really? Are you serious? Come on Jesus, of course he wants to get well! Why has he been there all this time?
But wait…..why WAS he there for so long?
-
Because he made excuses for his plight in life?
-
Because he just accepted it?
-
Because he enjoyed being a victim?
-
Because he had given up?
-
Because he blamed others?
Yes, like me he blamed others. In his answer to Jesus’ question he only stated that no one would help him. He didn’t say yes or no whether he wanted to get well, he blamed others.
Just… like… me…
Jesus’s response cuts through all the garbage. He gets straight to the point as He put an immediate end to the excuses, the blame and any empty words. He said to the man in John 5:8:
Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.
A facebook post recently said,
Sometimes it is as simple as getting up,
picking up your mat and walking….
Therefore I simply need to:
-
Get up….meaning to stand up and quit hiding behind blaming others.
-
Pick up my mat….which means to clean up my vocabulary of words. Words such as: If only, I can’t, I hate, I’m too hurt, they did, what about me, are just a few that need to go.
-
Walk….Begin with one step at a time to change and to be different.
Excuse is also defined as, “used as an apology or seeking forgiveness.”
Will you please excuse me (forgive me) for not being where I know I need to be……because I hide behind blaming you?
I do not want to:
-
just accept where I am,
-
enjoy being a victim,
-
give up,
-
blame you.
I want to do what Jesus did and cut through all the garbage. I want to get well.