Message summary: Today let us live our lives responsibly and stop making excuses.

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“The woman you put here with me–she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (Genesis 3:12). "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).

During our first fifteen years of marriage we were foster parents to many children from our own country and several we hosted from overseas who came here for medical care, including Ester whom we had the privilege of eventually adopting.

Chrissy was a little girl who lived with us for 2½ years about 45 years ago from ages 5-7. Here she is trying to comfort our troubled dog, Enoch, who had just gotten into a tussle with a porcupine and doesn’t look too happy as you can see in his eyes. It was a nasty and painful job to pull the quills out of his mouth!  He had several porcupine encounters, with this photo showing Enoch with only two quills, the most minor porcupine attack he endured over the years.

We recall the humorous way Chrissy would confuse words or explanations when she was first learning their meanings. When she did something by accident, she would take on a defensive posture and quickly blurt out, “I did it on purpose” rather than correctly stating “I didn’t do it on purpose.” Eventually she learned the correct expression which helped clarify the matter and greatly improved the consequences she was dealt.

We all look for ways or expressions that will quickly excuse us from negative consequences. When Ester was little she often pretended to be our waitress. She wrote down our food order on a tablet and then later served us.  One time as she brought out our meal she dropped the main entree on the floor and, before we could even say a word, she immediately cried out, “It’s not my fault!” 

Brooksyne and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, “Then whose fault is it?” we asked simultaneously. Making excuses or blaming others for our own mistakes has a long history doesn’t it?  And if we’re open and honest we too must admit to having done it a few times ourselves, perhaps even made a pattern of it.

Adam offered the very first excuse in the Bible shortly after his first transgression. God’s straightforward question to Adam following his transgression was, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”  That’s a yes or no question. But Adam replied, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” And this response was before politics entered the picture.

I’m particularly intrigued by the first phrase in Adam’s reply, “The woman you put here with me.”  Now certainly he’s blaming his wife Eve whom he rather bluntly calls “the woman”.  Indeed, she was the first to partake of the forbidden fruit, but he was with her and, without hesitation, he also took of the fruit she offered and ate it.

In an attempt to shift the blame Adam words his defense carefully.  He shifts the blame not only toward Eve but also toward God.  He uses careful wording when he refers to his wife as, “the woman You put here with me". Indeed God’s first special gift to Adam at Creation was his companion-help meet.  Now Adam manages to blame both her and God for his willing act of disobedience!  This is the very first excuse in human history.

The world we live in today mirrors Adam’s attitude of making excuses for just about everything under the sun, whether it’s outright rebellion or an inappropriate response to the injustices from which one might suffer.

Taking responsibility is at the very heart of our relationship with God and each other. A fundamental component of restoration is not denial of the sin, but taking responsibility for it and then confessing it to God.

David, when finally coming to repentance concerning his sin with Bathsheba, cried out, “I have sinned against the Lord". That’s essentially how we get restored when we make our initial "sinner’s prayer", by faith turning away from our sin and toward obedience. And as we grow in our walk with the Lord confession is a wonderful antidote to excuse making. Let us be quicker to make confession than we are to make excuses. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Today let us live responsibly and stop making excuses since it only prolongs or exasperates the growing problem. Whether we fail or fall God has graciously made a provision for our restoration and it begins with confession not excuses. That’s good news!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber