TOPIC: THE STOLEN AMBULANCE: HOW MUCH DOES AN EXCUSE WEIGH?

BASIC SCRIPTURE: GENESIS 3: 1-19

Sometime in July 2019, a man from Texas stole an ambulance from a Psychiatric hospital where he was once a patient. The ambulance was taken just after midnight from Cypress Greek Hospital in Houston Texas, a mental health medical facility. The ambulance was said to have been taken so easily by the man because its engine was left running and the man was familiar with the hospital because he had been a patient there before. The man who was described by police to be in his sixties took the ambulance to buy chicken and cigarettes. When staffers noticed that the ambulance was nowhere to be found, they called the police around 2.30am. Oficers using technology, tracked the ambulance to a nearby gas station where they found the man sitting in the vehicle with fried chicken and cigarettes. When the police asked him why he stole the ambulance, he told them that he needed it as a ride to run some errands. Further investigation revealed that he had indeed used the vehicle to run some errands which included a food stop at KFC.

News further reported that despite the reasons he gave, he was taken into custody and was charged for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.. Apart from this case, that same month a woman was arrested in New Mexico because she refused to pay for her order in a drive-in. When the server asked her to pay for her meal, she was said to have told the server that she took the order for God to pay. There is no doubting the fact that life is not a bed of roses. This fact was acknowledged by Job of old when he said, Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). The tough nature of life however is not a licence to give excuses for one’s failure. Benjamin Franklin said, He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. Agatha ChrIstie
added, “To rush into explanations is always a sign of weakness.” In today’s Bible reading, Adam and Eve each gave reasons for falling short of God’s glory. Adam said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Verse 12).

Eve gave her own excuse, “The serpent beguiled (deceived) me, and I did eat”. Their excuses for eating the fruit weighed little or nothing before God. They were both punished severely for their failure. Nobody wants to listen or accept your excuses for failing to do the needful. Dave Del Dotto quipped, “No one ever excused his way to Success. Edward Murrow equally said, “Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts. Don’t attempt to give excuses for your failure.” The beauty of a woman or the good looks of a man should not be a reason for falling into adultery or fornication. The lure of money cannot be taken as an excuse for embezzlement or corruption. Ushers/church accounting officers that cannot control themselves when they see large offerings are not worthy of being stewards in God’s Vineyard. The man whose story was told in today’s devotion was still charged for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle despite his excuse.
Remember the words of Apostle Paul, “Thou art inexcusable, O man (Romans 2:1). Excuses for not doing what is right weigh very little or nothing before God and the world. In this year 2020, don’t shift blame, don’t give excuses. Take charge of your life. You are a success! You can always pray PRAYERS TO SUSTAIN/PRESERVE YOUR MARRIAGE (PSALM 119: 86)

PRAYER POINTS: Take Song 2: My faith looks up

1. Pray on today’s word as led now.
2. Repent from past shortcomings and excuses you may have given.
3. I reject the DNA of FAILURE and SHAME!
Father, give me the grace to do things right when next I have such an opportunity.