Luke 14:18. Many of us know that we should go to church on a regular basis, but we always come up with good excuses on not going to church. Instead of giving good excuses, we need to look inside ourselves. Are we putting other things above God and our worship of God? This is what Jesus illustrates in the parable of the great supper. Everyone was invited, but everyone had good excuses on why they could not come. Luke 14:18 says, “And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused”. God created us and has called us to worship Him. It is our choice whether we fellowship with other Christians and worship God, but we cannot have it both ways. We cannot say that we are a Christian and not act like a Christian. Being a Christian includes fellowshipping and worshiping with the saints, the church.

LUKE 14 BIBLE SCRIPTURE Luke 14:18, “And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.”

Acts 24:25. Many of us have good excuses for not fulfilling God's purpose in our lives. For us that our ambitious or prosperous the best excuse is that doing God's purpose in our lives is not convenient. This is what happened when Felix, the Roman Governor, met with the Apostle Paul and received God's Word. Felix listened to Paul's words concerning righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to come, but Felix did not act on God's Word. Instead, Felix gave the good excuse that it was not a convenient time to continue with these discussions concerning God's word (Acts 24:25, “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee”). This is the way many of us are that are prosperous and distracted by the goods of this world. We will not make time for God in our lives. We have too many distractions in our lives that we do not have time for God.

ACTS 24 BIBLE SCRIPTURE Acts 24:25, “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”

Judges 6:15. There are many good excuses for not acknowledging God and the calling that is on our lives. Many of us when we are called by God, we give the good excuse that “I am not capable of fulfilling my calling”. The trouble with good excuses like this is that they do not work with God. God has a calling, a purpose, for our lives and with that he has made provision for us to fulfill our calling. The prophet Gideon gave the excuse of “I am not capable” when God called him to save Israel from their enemies (Judges 6:15, “And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house”.) When you think about who God is (all powerful, all knowing, and all present), how is it possible for us to doubt that God has made all the provisions for us to fulfill His calling in our lives? If we know God has called us to do something, we just need to do it. He will make provisions for us to succeed. In the final analysis, giving excuses to God is another way of showing our disobedience to God.

JUDGES 6 BIBLE SCRIPTURE Judges 6:15, “And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”

2 Kings 5:11. It is in our human nature to come up with good excuses not to obey God. One of the most subtle excuses we can give when God calls us is to say that “this is not God's way”. The Bible has many examples where people resisted God's calling because they had preconceived ideas about God. Naaman, a mighty General in the Syrian Army, almost missed God's blessing because of his preconceived ideas about God. In this example, Naaman desired to be cured of leprosy and Elisha, a man of God, gave Naaman instruction via way of a messenger on how to be cured of leprosy. Naaman was instructed to dip himself in the dirty, little river Jordan seven times. Naaman did not obey, but gave the excuse that God and His prophet would not act in the manner. Naaman's preconceived notion was that God would act in a grand and miraculous fashion to cure him of leprosy (2 Kings 5:11-12, “But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.”). Naaman's companions eventually persuaded him to do as the prophet directed, and Naaman was immediately cured of his leprosy. How many of us are giving what we think are good excuses in saying that God would not do it that way? In reality we need to be continually listening and seeking to discover God, instead of trying to define what we think God should do or not do.

2 KING 5 BIBLE SCRIPTURE 2 Kings 5:11, “But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.”