“But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment
will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much,
much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48
EXCUSE. EXCESS. One letter difference between the two. I was reading a book this week and those two words were used within a few sentences of each other, completely unrelated. My mind did its normal double take and of course jumped from thought to thought, first looking at the similarity in the letter combinations, then bouncing from idea to idea about the parallels between the two. Perhaps I bounced around a lot because in reality, most of us offer EXCUSES to God ultimately because of our EXCESS.
Think about it. What’s the most common excuse we give? Probably #1 on the “top ten” list is the old standby, “I don’t have time.” On the surface, that doesn’t look like an “EXCESS” excuse, but let’s dig a little deeper. Why don’t we have time? Could it be because we have excessively committed ourselves to too many things that don’t matter in eternity? Are our lives too busy working to climb the corporate ladder so we can have more excess? Are we too busy to prioritize Godly things because we have overcommitted to the mundane things of this world? In truth, our excessive lifestyle in so many ways yields to excuses.
While in Tanzania a few months ago, one of the wide-eyed translators innocently asked me, “Do you have a car?” Of all the mission trips I've been on, that question has never been asked of me. I was taken back. Of course, like most middle-class families in the USA, we have not one, but two vehicles. I stopped, hesitated, and shook my head slowly in the affirmative. With as much empathy as I could muster, “Yes,we do.” And with incredible guilt while trying to be honest I said, “Most people in the United States have a vehicle.” I couldn’t bring myself to tell her we actually had two, a minivan and a car. The surprise on her face was as if I had just spoiled the ending to a good book. It was a look of shock mixed with bewilderment, and perhaps a little envy rolled in, all together. I was reminded again how truly what an excessive lifestyle I live, compared to so many in the world.
I am blessed, beyond words. Physical blessings – health, a family I adore, a beautiful home. Heat when it’s cold. Air Conditioning when it’s hot. A blanket when I’m cold while everyone else needs the air on, which is nearly every day of summer around my home. Clothes without holes. Enough shoes and jewelry to match every outfit I own, and more outfits than I can count. Spiritual blessings – salvation, friends, my Godly husband, my church family, answered prayer, Facebook. Yeah, you read that right – Facebook. For me, Facebook is an incredible blessing. It’s both a spiritual and physical one. It allows me to minister to others while being ministered to, and it allows me to stay in touch with Christian friends across the globe. I could go on counting my blessings, and never stop. The bottom line is, even though I don’t consider myself a materialistic person,even though I’m a bargain shopper and don’t have to have the “latest and greatest” designer styles, the truth is that I live an excessive lifestyle compared to 99% of the world. And probably most reading this do as well.
While in Tanzania a few months ago, we stopped for gas. Likely, everything this man owned was on that motorcycle, and he was probably considered well-off, even rich. Truth is, everything I BROUGHT to Tanzania couldn't have fit on that bike.
The Bible is very clear. We will be held accountable for what has been given to us. “But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48
I have been entrusted with much. Because of this, much is expected of me. The next time I start to offer an excuse as to why I can’t do something that will have Kingdom impact and eternal significance, I'm going to do a double take and ask myself, Is this a valid EXCUSE or is the underlying excuse actually due to EXCESS?
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com