No more excuses

Jason and Sarah have again chosen the task of leading us through weekly discussions.  This time they have chosen the classic Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.  Always charmed, enlightened and often pierced by Lewis's words I've decided to join in.

This week in Chapter One - The Law of Human Nature Lewis' writes:

I hope you will not misunderstand what I am going to say. I am not preaching, and Heaven knows I do not pretend to be better than anyone else. I am only trying to call attention to a fact; the fact that this year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people.

He then goes on to talk about how we make excuses, for indeed we do know the difference between right and wrong, and long to think of ourselves as right. If we can blame someone else or something else for our “wrongness” then we can continue to believe the illusion of our “rightness”.

An illusion it is indeed, for not a single one of us is "right" as Paul teaches in his letter to the Romans:

There's nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. They've all taken the wrong turn; they've all wandered down blind alleys. No one's living right; I can't find a single one.  Romans 3:10-12 The Message

Shades of gray

Can we really be surprised
at those things surrounding us
that cause our jaws to drop
the harshness of the actions of man
when shades of gray
have blurred the lines
and black and white disappear?

I am tired of excuses
yours, thiers
mostly sick in my depths
of those I utter with my own lips.

I have His Word
I contain His Spirit
I can not say I do not know.

I can strip off the covering of
my own sinful nature
and choose
yes, I choose
to wrap myself in the clothing
of His righteousness.

He chose the cross
to offer me this very choice.
Can I continue to deny that sacrifice?

Join in the discussion at Sarah's Living Between the Lines