What Is God Doing Taking Away My Excuses?

Discovering my imperfections is upsetting enough, but God even eliminates my excuses.  I have found that when everything else has fallen apart I can rely on my excuses.  They are comforting.  They are cuddly.  They are the delusions I can rest upon.  So, what is God doing taking away my excuses? 

God desires that people live in the truth and live truly free.  The truth will set you free, you know.  Excuses tend to fog the truth and freedom is lost.  God has a better idea.  I came across this in Romans 1:20 about excuses. 

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.  Romans 1:20 (NLT)

There it is no excuse.  People who are committed to a view that there is no God have no excuse.  People who claim God hasn’t been clear enough for them to really know have no excuse.  People who have made up their own idea of God have no excuse.  People who have been mistreated by others and deny God have no excuse.  “They have no excuse for not knowing God.” 

There is more.  In Romans 3:19 I found this it's a troublesome idea about excuses not being acceptable. 

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.     Romans 3:19 (NLT)

Apparently, God provided a standard by which to evaluate attitudes and behaviors.  God’s standard shows how crooked and out of alignment people are by comparison to His standard so that there is no excuse. 

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.   1 John 1:8 (NLT)

Oh, no, my claims to have no sin haven’t fooled anyone?  My excuses for why I said that or why I have such anger or why I lash out or why I don’t really trust God or why I have to be in control or why I struggle with the flesh are no good.  It is true I am not living in the truth, but I convinced myself that other people at least thought I was living in the truth.  But it seems I was only fooling myself.  Bummer.  My excuse ridden existence is crumbling.  But isn’t that good?

Excuses are like excrement which needs to be removed.  The marble the artist chisels is only shapely and beautiful once the unnecessary fragments are removed.  God is in the business of bringing out the beauty by revealing the truth. 

As I think about it I find that I am blessed by God to have the excuses exposed and to discover the freedom the truth brings.  God help me to remain true and to not be as the pig returning to the mud or the dog returning to his vomit, but one who stays faithful to You.  No excuses.