Bible Text: John 15:22 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. John 15:22

“The man who is good for excuses,” said wise, old Benjamin Franklin, “is good for little else.” The New Merriam Webster’s Dictionary says that an excuse is a reason for your conduct, a justification of what you have done. It is different from a reason for your action. A legitimate cause for doing something, or for not doing it, as the case may be, is a reason. But an excuse is something you give when you have no real reason for your action. It is a camouflage, an attempt to save face and salvage your self-esteem.

On one occasion Jesus told a story about a man who planned a large dinner and invited many guests, but before the meal, they all begged off and decided not to come. The first said, “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it….” Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.” Another said, “I have married a wife, and, therefore, I cannot come” (See Luke 14).

Notice something for a moment–all three needs are valid in themselves–you would expect a man to look at a piece of property before he bought it–not afterward, since it might be three meters under water, and there is nothing wrong with buying property. There is also nothing wrong with buying a team of oxen, or an automobile today, and a prudent individual would test drive something before he bought it. There is certainly nothing wrong with marrying a wife, or else a lot of us are in trouble. The problem was that each had a misplaced sense of priorities. An excuse is generally satisfactory to only the person who gives it.

The story that Jesus told was really a parable or a picture of a great God who loves you, and invites you to receive eternal life through the invitation of His Son, Jesus Christ. He said, “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). That invitation is personal, and it is for you. Have you responded to Him, or have you fabricated an excuse as to why you have not taken God up on the offer?

There are a variety of excuses that work quite satisfactorily–at least to the person who is looking for one. Some are professional–“I’ll lose my job; nobody believes that in my position. I would not be popular.” Others are intellectual, such as “I cannot understand everything there is to know about Christianity. I am an honest doubter.” Others point to hypocrites and say, “I do not want to be like such and such a person.” They forget that men counterfeit only the real and genuine. Others project moral excuses. “I am pretty good myself,” forgetting that it is often the good that keeps men out of heaven, not the bad.

One excuse is really as good as another. But the person who looks for an excuse is left with emptiness in his heart. He is clinging to leftover props that help him save face. Have you ever asked yourself, “Why, really, have I never come to experience the abundant life which I know is possible in Jesus Christ?” As the master of the feast was angry with the shallow excuses given by those who were invited, I feel that our Heavenly Father is not much happier with some of our excuses for not walking with Him. As George Sweeting say, “Reasons are usually sincere, while an excuse is a rationalization.” A reason involves reality, but an excuse is an invention, or at best, a frail, sick reason. “Come unto Me,” said Jesus, “and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Resource reading: Luke 14:15-24