God always wants the best for us and that is why He hates our excuses. Excuses are what keep us from following God and may even keep us from heaven.
I am not saying this to scare you. I am saying it to make sure you are following what He wants you to do.
1 John 2:28 in the Message tells us, “And now, Children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for Him when He appears, ready to receive Him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when He arrives.”
Run Into Jesus’ Arms
I don’t want to feel ashamed and guilty in Jesus’ presence. I want to run into His arms and bury my face in Him for all eternity. However, if you are someone who feels like they aren’t ready for Jesus to return, then you likely need to have a conversation with the King of Kings and do it sooner rather than later.
I grew up in a Christian home, the daughter of an aspiring preacher. I accepted Christ when I was a child. I was convicted of being a sinner in need of Jesus because I stole candy from the grocery store.
In reality, I just didn’t want to burn in hell. I wanted fire insurance. I was in church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and most Friday nights for all my life up to that point and after that as well. Church was a way of life for my family and it became a way of life for me and my husband and our children and the foster children we took care of.
I Was a Glutton
I was a good person. I studied the Bible, taught adult Sunday School, led small groups and I was a glutton. I didn’t see myself as a glutton and I didn’t think that overeating was a sin. Sure, alcoholics and drug addicts are committing sin, but not those of us who overeat. We just need to go on a diet, and everything will be all right.
God had clearly told me what to do to lose weight, which was to stop eating sugar. I told Him I couldn’t do what He asked me to do. He wanted me to stop eating foods made with sugar and flour. I went on multiple diets and my weight just increased after each one.
God had given me an exact plan and I had thumbed my nose in His face, refused to do what He wanted and rebelled against Him. That’s the definition of sin right there. I was not just sinning every once in a while. I was in a lifestyle sin. I was swimming in sin.
Repentance is the Key
Throughout the Old Testament, there are stories of the kings of Judah and Israel who were big-time sinners. Most of them ended up meeting a violent death. Some of them started out as good kings and ended up evil. They had multiple chances to turn back to God and they didn’t.
King David also committed some atrocious sins, but God called David a man after God’s own heart because He confessed, repented and mourned over what he had done.
In Psalm 51:17 NLT David recognizes that all the wealth and possessions he has are not the kind of sacrifice God desires. “The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, Oh God.”
Come to Jesus Moment
This is the point I finally had to come to. I call it my come to Jesus moment. It happened in a moment when my mentor said, “Alcohol is one molecule away from sugar. Alcohol is liquid sugar.”
In that moment and not a moment before, I recognized I had not just committed a sin. I was living a lifestyle of sin, daily, hourly sometimes minute by minute. I was doing harm to my body, the body God had paid for with tears of the blood, an expensive price I could never repay.
I repented. I mourned. I surrendered completely to God right then and there. I gave Him the only thing I had. I gave Him myself and I laid sugar and flour on the altar. I didn’t know at that point how I could change the 30 years of bad habits I had amassed, but I knew one thing for sure. I finally was done with excuses because I knew God had something much better in mind for me.
Teresa Shields Parker
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