Excuses! Excuses!

Here are the top 10 reasons why people no longer go to sporting events. Reason #10: The seats were too hard and not at all comfortable. Reason #9: The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly. Reason #8: Every time I went, they asked me for money. Again? Reason #7: The referee made a decision with which I could not agree. Reason #6: The band played some numbers that I had never heard before. Reason #5: It seems that the games are scheduled when I want to do other things. Forget it. Reason #4: I suspected I was sitting with some hypocrites. They came to see their friends and what others were wearing rather than to watch the game. Reason #3: Some games went into overtime and I was late getting home, Move it! Reason #2: I recently read a book on sports and now I feel that I know more than the coaches do anyhow. This is how you should do it. Reason #1: My parents dragged me to too many games when I was growing up. That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. Plus, “I don’t want to take my children to any games because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.” Nobody would quit going to sporting events because of these reasons. And…“I went to several games but the coach never came to call on me.” These sound more like excuses people give for not going to church. Precisely! Huh? Tell me, what is the real reason why people don’t go to a sporting event. Uh…they’ve lost their passion for their team? Exactly! And the reason people don’t go to church is often because that passion they once had for Christ has been missing. But instead of recognizing that in themselves and working through the issues that plague them… They become distracted by silly excuses, and they never come to grips that the real reason may be inside of them instead of inside of the church. Moral: As we continue in our walk with the Lord, we need to ask God if we have made any silly excuses that have kept us from the fellowship He yearns to have with each of us. We need to take to heart the warning the prophet Jeremiah spoke about… The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jer. 17:9). To avoid this we need to ask God to show us our blind spots, the things that stand in the way of our fellowship with Him. Then we need to turn our hearts to Him in repentance. Search me, God, and know my hear; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way i me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps. 139:23-24). Lord, reveal the sin in my heart. I turn my life back to you and renew my trust in Jesus!