[Devoted1]

"Excuses, Excuses, Excuses"
By: Zach Wood
Philippians 2:5
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.


It seems like a simple verse. It's a passage all of us probably know by heart. We know we are supposed to be living examples of Christ. But we have excuses explaining away that the "walk" is just so hard. We are taught each Sunday in church that we are ambassadors in the name of Christ sent out to bring people to know Him. Still, we use excuses. Many of us, including myself, have probably read this verse and said, "Yep, already realize that and am working on it!" Yeah.....we know.....but are we REALLY working on this?

I'm almost constantly finding myself fighting a war inside my heart, as Paul did, to do good things and turn away from evil things. In Romans 7:14-25, Paul is describing his difficulty with sin. He knows the good he ought to do, but doesn't do it. Now, how many of us can relate with Paul's struggle? (All hands should be raised right now) None of us are exempt. We fight the world day in and day out. Sometimes, it's downright miserable to try and win the fight.

My last devotional was, "Our Main Source Of Help". Why don't we combine that devotional with this one, kind of as a sequel, and use Christ as our main source of help? We should be striving to be more like Him, leaving our sinful nature, and stop using the excuses that we can't be more like Christ because of all the pressures in the world. You and I both know we use these excuses each day in some way. I'm as guilty as anyone and I'm not proud of that.

We have no excuses to not be more like Christ. I pray that this devotional brings a conviction to us all to strive harder to do what He has called us to do. Let's not be caught with "excuses", but rather be caught "witnessing".