20Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
21Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
This is an important topic that I think we ALL can relate to. Having excuses. When a choice comes our way, one that we are conflicted about or maybe even one that we know is wrong, we have a lot of excuses to justify what we choose to do.
Some of the excuses brought up in the book that I can relate to is "I'm only going to do it once," or "Well, we're not living in Biblical times," or one that I know I said all the time, "I know God will forgive me..." We all know, that anytime there is a particularly nasty sin in our lives, we never do it just once. Can we do anything or commit any sin so bad that God stops loving us? NO! But that doesn't mean we have a "license to sin," as it were either. We, as Christians, are called to be different. We have choices every day where we choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing. Nasser speaks of a situation he was in where he was faced with a choice.
There were hardly any movies on a Friday Night at a video store. A clerk comes back with a lot of movies and he just picks one up quickly. He takes a look and knows that it's not a movie as he says a "committed Christian" would watch. However, he came up with a million excuses as to why he should. He grabbed some other movies and headed to the counter. Just as he was checking out, paid and was about to be handed his movies, a student he didn't know came in and said NASSER! HEY!
Nasser said "Hey Bud" which is the A.K.A. for I don't know you. The student said you don't know but I was saved at a camp you spoke at. This kid says he was going to watch movies with friends but there probably wasn't much left. He had already seen Nasser reaching out and looked at the movies he had. When he saw the title of the movie, his smile faded. Embarrassed, Nasser whispered to the clerk I don't want this, and keep the money...and left, drove home, went to his room with the light off, because he felt better there.
This is a practical example of when bad choices find us out.
Isaiah 5:20 says "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."
Life is a series of choices. While God loves us, gives us grace and forgiveness, He always prods us, and encourages us to make the right decisions. I don't know who this is for, but surely any of you reading this have been at one time, or are currently faced with tough choices. I am, and have been for some time. It can be very tough. Some things, we just know we ought to do. Some things aren't as cut and dry. I pray for all of you, as I pray for myself, serenity, grace, and above all discernment to make the choices that please and bring honor to God!
If you aren't caught up yet, check out day 1 through 4 earlier in the blog and stay tuned for Day 6!
-Brian
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