No Excuses
I’m really good at thinking up excuses. I can always come up with a reason to ignore some chore and go do something fun instead.
Reading the Bible teaches me about God, but it also teaches me a lot about humans. And I realized recently that humans have always thought up excuses for their behavior, down through the ages. Give us a rule, and we’ll immediately look for the loophole.
Satan uses this. Look at how he slyly asked Eve, “Did God say this?” Satan offered her another interpretation of what God had said, and she fell right into the trap.
The day came when God wanted to give the Israelites the job of telling the rest of the world about him. First he led them out to a private place and gave them some rules so they could understand the difference between right and wrong. He wanted them to be able to know when they had gone astray from correctly worshiping him so they could repent and get back on the right path.
But a funny thing about humans. Give us a simple rule, and we’ll immediately complicate it. “But what about this situation? There could be extenuating circumstances.”
I’ve been guilty of this kind of thinking. “I know I shouldn’t have slid through the intersection on the tail end of the yellow light — but I had to do it so I wouldn’t be late.”
“I should have stopped to help, but I really didn’t have time, my own needs were more important.”
“I should have used that opening to tell her about God’s love, but I’m really not very good at that.”
Israel’s religious leaders complicated the rules so much that people were focused on them instead of on God. They had people thinking that the only way to please God was to follow the rules.
But who can follow all the rules perfectly? If that’s the only way into heaven, we’re all doomed.
Jesus came to set us straight on God’s intentions. He explained that the entire Bible can be summed up in just two rules: Love God, and love your neighbor. All the rest are just guidelines, little beacons to illuminate the path so you can follow it, or to lead you back to it when you stray. Solar-powered beacons — illuminated by the Son.
What he did on the cross made it plain: Jesus is the way to heaven, not a bunch of rules. The rules are just there to help me know how to worship God and how to love my neighbor. The rules can let me know when I’ve strayed and need to repent and get back on track. But they’re just supposed to help me, not be my main focus.
John said it best: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:9)
“I am the way, the truth and the life,” Jesus said. That’s a plain message. No way to misunderstand it. No loophole there. No possible excuses.
I’m human, so I’ll stray from the path sometimes. But thanks be to God, I can always follow the Son to find my way back. And thanks be to God, if some day Saint Peter stands at the pearly gates and asks me, “What’s your excuse for being here?” I can just say, “Jesus.”