Daily Devotional
Exception Clauses and Famous Excuses
On November 17,1971 (exactly 51 years ago to the day) I prayed to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior. My prayer was simple and heart-felt: “Lord Jesus…come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior.” Sadly, my prayer also had some conditions that reflected my ignorance of His sovereignty: “I will do anything for You, Lord…except go into ministry.” My reasons were simple: I felt totally unworthy, unqualified and ill-equipped.
In those days, when people suggested that God may be calling me to full-time vocational ministry, I often teased, “I don’t want to be paid to be good; I want to remain, ‘good for nothing.’” Oh, how my life was filled with excuses. However, it didn’t take long to learn from the Bible that I was in good company with some pretty famous excuse-makers, who had their own exception clauses. Let me paraphrase a few:
• Moses: “I will do anything for You, Lord, except I don’t speak very well.” (Exodus, Chapter 4)
• Gideon: “I would do what you ask, Lord, except I am not qualified.” (Judges, Chapter 6)
• Jeremiah: “I would preach to your rebellious people, Lord, except I am too young.” (Jeremiah, Chapter 2)
• Jonah: “I would offer your forgiveness to these unbelievers, Lord, except…(then he just ran!) (Read the entire Book of Jonah)
Having served in vocational ministry for almost five decades, I am thanking God His sovereign will that overruled many of my foolish excuses and exception clauses. I am especially grateful for the timeless words of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
So, what are your “exception clauses”?:
“I will do anything for You, Lord, EXCEPT......... !”
Thank you, Lord, for using us in spite of ourselves!
In those days, when people suggested that God may be calling me to full-time vocational ministry, I often teased, “I don’t want to be paid to be good; I want to remain, ‘good for nothing.’” Oh, how my life was filled with excuses. However, it didn’t take long to learn from the Bible that I was in good company with some pretty famous excuse-makers, who had their own exception clauses. Let me paraphrase a few:
• Moses: “I will do anything for You, Lord, except I don’t speak very well.” (Exodus, Chapter 4)
• Gideon: “I would do what you ask, Lord, except I am not qualified.” (Judges, Chapter 6)
• Jeremiah: “I would preach to your rebellious people, Lord, except I am too young.” (Jeremiah, Chapter 2)
• Jonah: “I would offer your forgiveness to these unbelievers, Lord, except…(then he just ran!) (Read the entire Book of Jonah)
Having served in vocational ministry for almost five decades, I am thanking God His sovereign will that overruled many of my foolish excuses and exception clauses. I am especially grateful for the timeless words of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
So, what are your “exception clauses”?:
“I will do anything for You, Lord, EXCEPT......... !”
Thank you, Lord, for using us in spite of ourselves!
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