Thursday, July 17, 2008

Excuses or Blessings?

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
  • S: What you've been shown here is somewhat like a letter in a sealed envelope. If you give it to someone who can read and tell her, "Read this," she'll say, "I can't. The envelope is sealed." And if you give it to someone who can't read and tell him, "Read this," he'll say, "I can't read." Isaiah 29:11-12 [MSG]
  • O: Excuses accomplish nothing.
  • A: It seems that I get this from my own employees regularly. I ask them to do something and their first response is to tell me why they can't. Not to ask for further instruction. Not to ask for assistance. But to say that they just can't do it. And they are more often than not just lame excuses with no basis in reality. People who have received repeated training will try to tell me that they don't know how to do the simplest of tasks. Excuses. Not reasons. We can be like that with God. "I can't tithe because I have bills to pay." "I can't go to church because I have to work on Sunday." "I can't pray in front of a group because they'll laugh at me." All of them excuses, and God knows it. We are only fooling ourselves when we try these lame excuses. And what do we gain? A little extra fun money? A couple extra hours of sleep on Sunday? But at what cost? Since starting to tithe, I have seen God bless the 90% that I don't return to Him. I seem to have more money between paydays than in the past, and there is no earthly logical reason for it (especially with the cost of gasoline driving the price of everything up). Church has changed our lives -- you can see it in my entire family. The excuses cost you more than just doing what is right. And it's the same at work, as I've promoted newer employees because of their productivity while reducing the hours of tenured Associates. The excuses have cost them hours and money, while getting the job done has paid rewards to others.
  • P: God, You've taught me a lesson that works both spiritually and professionally. By putting an end to the excuses and returning to You that which You have given me, I have been blessed. And by putting those same principles in place at work, I have seen Your blessings there, as well.
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