What's Your Excuse
2 Chronicles 34:1
"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years."
One of the things you get used to hearing in the ministry are the excuses of why people can't serve the LORD. You would think of all that the LORD has done for people that they would lay their excuses aside; however, churches are filled with people who think their excuse is unique. They don't realize that the excuse they give has been used before, and it is full of holes.
Josiah had plenty of excuses he could have used not to serve the LORD. His father and grandfather were very wicked men who gave him no example of how to serve the LORD. He was young when the pressures of the kingdom came upon him, and yet he served the LORD. He was reared in a single parent home from eight years of age and on. The environment around him was one of wickedness and idolatry. Yet, Josiah threw every excuse aside so that he could do right and serve the LORD.
Let me ask you, what is your excuse as to why you won't sell yourself out to serve the LORD? Is it that you're parents are not good people? If that is your excuse, then Josiah showed it can be done. Every young person can turn out right in spite of their home environment. Your parents may be as wicked as the Devil himself, but you still have a choice to serve the LORD. If you are reading this devotional, then that means you have had some opportunity to hear what is right from someone; therefore, to use your parents as your excuse not to do right is a lame excuse.
Is your excuse that you are too young to serve the LORD? I get so tired of this excuse, especially when it comes from parents talking about their children. If a child is old enough to get saved, then they are old enough to serve the LORD. Josiah was eight years old when he had to make the choice to serve the LORD. God uses children in His work just as much as He uses adults. Parents, don't hold your children back from serving the LORD because you think they are too young. Be sure that you give your children plenty of opportunities to serve the LORD.
Is your excuse that you are a teenager? If this is your excuse then you must realize that Josiah served the LORD as a teenager also. Certainly, if anyone had an opportunity to do wrong it was Josiah. He was king of Judah. He had the power to do whatever he wanted to do and nobody could do anything about it. Yet, he still did right and served the LORD. You can use your teenage years as an excuse of why you don't serve the LORD, or you can decide as a teenager to do right and serve the LORD.
Age, environment and circumstances are never good reasons for you not to serve the LORD. You can find people of all ages, in every environment and circumstance serving the LORD. It all comes down to this, your heart. The excuse you use not to serve the LORD is simply a camouflage of a backslidden heart. Josiah had a heart for God and that is why he served Him. Likewise, you must decide with your heart that you are going to serve the LORD. Throw out all of your excuses and decide right now that you will serve the LORD in spite of your age, environment or circumstance.