Romans 2:1-4 (VOICE)
2 So you can see there are no excuses for any of us. If your eyes shift their focus from yourselves to others—to judge how they are doing—you have already condemned yourselves! You don’t realize that you are pointing your fingers at others for the exact things you do as well. 2 There’s no doubt that the judgment of God will justly fall upon hypocrites who practice such things. 3 Here’s what is happening: you attack and criticize others and then turn around to commit the same offenses yourselves! Do you think you will somehow dodge God’s judgment? 4 Do you take the kindness of God for granted? Do you see His patience and tolerance as signs that He is a pushover when it comes to sin? How could you not know that His kindness is guiding our hearts to turn away from distractions and habitual sin to walk a new path? [a path of repentance]
As I study the Word of God for today from the Apostle Paul, I am reminded once again the biggest issue facing humanity is the “judgment” of God for the massive amounts of excuses we use when we sin against Him, ourselves, and others. According to the Apostle Paul, when we use excuses for any sin we commit, we actually condemn ourselves before God. Many times, we repeat the very sins we have condemned in others.
God offers a new path of personal responsibility in life; it is called the path of repentance. In Scripture, repentance is really narrowed down to the word “surrender.” In other words, we accept responsibility for our actions before our Sovereign God. In sorrow, we ask for forgiveness, because of the immense kindness and mercy God has shown toward us. As we repent, we are making a decision to change our focus from making excuses for ourselves or blaming others and instead cast our gaze upon God who is the true and all-knowing Judge of all human behaviors. We can’t hide the truth from God, so let’s pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us stop the excuses and start living for his glory!
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. In Jesus’ name. Amen.