October 16, 2023

Simple Objective: Stop making excuses.

Make it Personal: Share what your favorite excuse is to use and when you used it last.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse… Luke 14:18 (KJV)

Jesus told a parable in Luke 14:7-24. It was about a man making a great feast and inviting a huge number of people to come. However, there were so many who had excuses not to attend. One bought five oxen. One bought some land. One got married. Luke 14:18 says they all made excuses with “one consent”. In other words, they all decided not to attend as a group. It is so easy to use excuses if others are doing it.

There are so many things we could discuss about this parable, but I just want to concentrate on the excuses today. They sound pretty lame. Don’t they? They are like, “the dog ate my homework” kind of excuses.

Sometimes we don’t do things because we just can’t. There might be some serious things going on in our lives and we can’t attend everything. But when it comes to serving God, I wonder how many flimsy excuses we give just because we don’t want to do something we know the Holy Spirit is leading us to do.

It is so easy to tell ourselves that we are too tired, too busy, or maybe too stressed when it comes to serving God. But when I think about eternity and all those people that need to come to the banquet. You know, the ones that need Salvation, then how weak my own excuses sound. Jesus is my Great Teacher, and I have to be careful of standing before Him with excuses.

So, are you using excuses when it comes to serving God?

Copyright ©2023 Julia Bettencourt

My Dog Ate My Homework...(Teach Me Lesson 2)

Hey women's leader! You can read my 7-part "Dealing with Excuses" series here.

Find more in this series on the Simple Lessons with Simple Objectives Page.

See more on the Simplified Ministry Index.

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