The Heart of Our Matters
This morning, I was reading the Gospel of Matthew, where Christ tells His disciples not to worry about providing food, drink, or clothing to keep his commandments. He explains that if they think they can't keep his commandments because of a lack of worldly possessions, it's because they're actually seeking to excuse themselves: "Why is it that you murmur among yourselves, saying, We cannot obey your word, because you have not all these things, and seek to excuse yourselves, saying that after all these things do the gentiles seek?" (Matthew 3:38). This line of questioning is exactly what I would expect from our Lord because he loves us enough to reveal our character defects, loyalty, and trust in him. So I did a word search on the different ways "seek to excuse yourself" is used in scripture, and below are the results. I plan to apply these in my own life but hope it's helpful to you, as well. I don’t wish to excuse myself because of other men...