What Is Your Excuse?

When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? John 5:6

The section of scripture in John 5: 1-9 is very interesting. It is the story of a man that had been crippled for 38 years. Jesus asked him whether or not he wanted to be healed.

I would think that the obvious answer would be a resounding, "Yes I do". I mean, sick people usually want to get well, blind people want to see, lame people want to walk, and so on. That seems to be fairly clear and straightforward.

But the man didn’t say "yes". He didn’t focus on anything but his interpretation of why he wasn’t already healed. He gave Jesus his excuse for why he would never get healed the traditional way. In my opinion, he blamed his predicament on everybody else. Apparently, he felt like he was the victim.

His answer to Jesus revealed that he did not know who Jesus was. It never occurred to him that Jesus had the power and authority to heal him. Therefore, the only thing he knew about getting healed was the old time traditions. And these had already failed him for 38 years. He believed that any chance of walking was hopeless.

This man actually reminds me of myself. How many times have I excused my bad attitude or blamed someone else for my failure to trust God? I cannot tell you how many years I’ve been believing God to be debt free, and to be able to buy things cash instead of on credit. Oh, I’m doing better, but the fact is that I could have been out of debt a long time ago; but I failed to obey God in being the good steward of His finances that I need to be. I’ve got a lot of stuff, but I have a lot of debt also. And my excuses for remaining in debt are worse than the man at the pool.

What is your excuse for not being the person God wants you to be? Who is to blame for your bad attitude? Promiscuity? Rebellion? Dropping out of school? Apathy? Destructive habits? Are you waiting to change one day, but not today? Since no one knows and no one is getting hurt, is it OK to keep doing whatever it is that you are doing?

Excuses are the crutch we us to help us justify around all kinds of behavior. We can become so comfortable with our excuses, until we forget what a normal healthy life feels like.

Jesus wants to make us well. He wants our lives to be full of meaning and purpose. He has much more in store for us than romance and entertainment. He wants us whole. And that means breaking free of all our excuses, and living a bold life for Jesus Christ.

Edmund Brown