Excuses Breed, II

Proverbs 24:¹² “Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew…”

Yesterday, we began to look at the first of three excuses that deplete spiritual traction. And it is The Excuse that breeds SELF-INDULGENCE. The truth is that the more you indulge and give in to these excuses, you will realize that you begin to lose control. And control is one of the key things when it comes to having traction, because anything that is out of control is going to weaken you. You lose spiritual traction when you make decisions based on pleasure, rather than purpose. So, the next time you need to make a decision, ask yourself, is this in line with my purpose? When you decide based on convenience, instead of conviction, you lose spiritual traction. It is convenient for you to quit, but the conviction is, God has not given birth to a failure yet. You are not a bastard so you cannot quit.

Some people are at the point in their lives where quitting or not going to work is the most convenient thing. But the conviction of the value of work and the value you bring should keep you going. So, when you choose convenience over conviction, you lose traction. Galatians 6:^7-8 “Don’t be misled; remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it; a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows!  If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death…” (LB, emphasis added). For someone reading this even now, you realize that you have made this mistake, you have already done this. That is why God, the Alpha, and the Omega, has ordered your steps. He can go back into the evil seeds that you have sown and uproot them. So that they will not bring forth an evil harvest for you. And because God is merciful and gracious, so shall it be in Jesus Mighty Name. But you need to get a grip, set yourself straight, repent, and make that turn.

We all can relate to giving into convenience instead of conviction, giving into pleasure instead of purpose. The key thing is what are you going to do about it? For some, you have made the turn to conviction and to purpose, but you have been battered by previous bad decisions based on convenience and pleasure. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the mercy of God will speak over you. And going forward, you will choose purpose over pleasure and conviction over convenience. The truth is that any area where you are not disciplined is going to weaken your spirit. Today is the day you get up and refuse for anything to weaken your spirit.

Prayer: Father, empower me to flush out excuses that breed self-indulgence and strengthen me to choose purpose and conviction, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!