Devotional - 25th June 2026

REVEALING GOD DEVOTIONAL - THE EXCUSE – PART 2

Bless God for another glorious day and for all His mercies. I am happy to continue on our line of thought about excuses. I am sure it is clear that excuses will not work when we meet with our Maker. This is why we must avoid living a life of excuses, but step out in faith to do what is necessary. In the scriptures, a person that gives excuses is considered a lazy person, because he will always give excuses in order not to work. And when there is no real excuse, he will make one up and might even say a lion was roaming the streets today. The scripture says, “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets” (Proverbs 26:13).

Previously, I talked about three kinds of unwilling excuses people give not to be saved or to serve God. Today, I want to talk about three kinds of excuses people can give even when they have a willing heart to serve God.

The Willing Excuses

There are people that are willing to serve God, but find themselves limited by certain excuses. We must know that anyone who gives excuses is not willing to make sacrifices. The truth is that faith has no excuses. You simply get what you believe, and you don’t get what you don’t believe. In other words, there is no excuse for faith not to work. So when we look at the scripture that says “the just shall live by faith” (Hebrews 10:38), we know that our victory is sure, which gives us no reason to give any excuse. If you must have any excuse, it should be because God said NO, and not that man or circumstance said NO.

I just want to charge your faith today and let you know that with God all things are possible, with only one condition — and that is if you believe. Nick Vujicic was born without any limbs — that means he was born without hands and legs — but today he has become a well-recognized American evangelist who has preached to thousands of people that many of those who have hands and legs could ever imagine preaching to in their lifetime. He had all the excuses in the world to just sit down in a wheelchair in one room and throw a pity party, but he didn’t allow his physical reality to limit the will of God from being fulfilled in his life. So I really wonder again, what excuse can be limiting you from serving God?

Jesus gave three common excuses that are often given by people who are willing to serve God but end up not doing so. Let me enumerate them.

1. Unwilling to Suffer in the Flesh

Many people are willing to serve God, but are not fully obedient because they don’t want their flesh to suffer. The truth is that the flesh is one of the major problems that confront many Christians, because we are stuck with it, despite its weakness. The scripture tells us that even though our spirit is willing, we might not obey because our flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).

The flesh hates suffering, and all it always wants is for its selfish cravings to be satisfied. Therefore the flesh continually opposes the will of God. The scripture says, “because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be” (Romans 8:7 ASV).

The Israelites were willing to quickly exit Egypt to serve God in the wilderness, but when they encountered some problems during their journey to the Promised Land, they were quick to murmur against Moses and Aaron, and were even willing to go back to Egypt. Likewise, there are many Christians who start out the race of Christianity well but when they meet some resistance, they easily give up because of the weakness of their flesh. A man said he was willing to follow Jesus, but Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).

Jesus was indirectly preparing this man for the Christian journey. I don’t think many of today’s Christians are told the full cost of living the Christian gospel, so when they are confronted with life’s challenges, they easily give up and return to their old ways. You must be mentally willing to suffer in your flesh if you must serve God. You might not get it at once, but you must strive to get there by depending on the help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13). The scripture says, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin: That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2).

2. Distraction

The next willing excuse that Jesus talked about was distraction. Distraction comes in many ways, but one of the common ways is to give you another assignment other than that which God has given you. There was a man that Jesus told to follow Him, but he said he had to go and bury his father first. This was not a bad thing to want to do, but in this case it would be a distraction from preaching the gospel and thus disobedience to God’s commandment. So Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60).

This might sound harsh, but our love for God must be put above anything if we must not end up having excuses and endangering our salvation.

3. Regret / Looking Back

The next willing excuse that Jesus talked about was people who live in regret. These are people who start the journey of Christianity, forsaking all to follow Jesus, but along the way — just like Judas Iscariot — they become entrapped by the lust for the world. The Israelites had left Egypt, but their minds were not renewed to look forward. So anytime there was a problem, they quickly started talking about returning back to Egypt. Looking back is just like Lot’s wife turning back and becoming a pillar of salt. Faith never looks back despite whatever is happening; it always presses forward, so that excuses are left behind. The prophets of the scriptures had even more persecution than many Christians are facing today, but they never made it an excuse to look back. The scripture says, “And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned” (Hebrews 11:15).

A man came to Jesus and said he would follow Him, but he wanted to first go and tell his family farewell. He still had an attachment to his family, and so indirectly his heart was back at home and not fully in living for the kingdom of God. So Jesus told him, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

I believe by now we are challenged to move forward despite the problems we might be facing, and throw the word “excuse” out of our vocabulary. Remember there will not be any excuse for not receiving Jesus as your Saviour and serving Him as your Lord. Have a blessed day.

Today’s Reading:

Luke 9, 14, Proverbs 18

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Nevertheless, if you are not born again you can do so today by saying this simple prayer below out with your mouth in faith, believing that Jesus Christ died and rose again for your sins.