Greg Laurie Devotional

I had to share this devotional from
Greg Laurie with Harvest Christian
Fellowship.

Excuses, Not Reasons

And let us not neglect our meeting together,
as some people do, but encourage one another,
especially now that the day of his return is
drawing near. Hebrews 10:25

A reason is what we offer when we are
unable to do something, while an excuse
is what we offer when we don't want to
do something and want to get out of it.
And people offer a lot of excuses as to
why they can't go to church.

Yet I look at the commitment that sports
fans have—how they will go and support
their team, no matter what. No matter
what the circumstances or weather
conditions, they will root their team on.
They will dress in the team colors and
even paint their faces. And when their
team scores, they will yell in their
excitement.

What if people were like that in church—
never missing a service, never missing an
opportunity to worship? And what if people
offered the same reasons for not going to
sporting events as they do for not going to
church? Think how stupid it would sound:
"Yeah, I don't go to the games anymore. The
people who sat around me didn't seem all
that friendly. And it is so crowded. There
are just too many people." Or, "The seats
were too uncomfortable." Or, "It is too
hard to find a parking place." Or, "The
coach never personally came and talked
to me."

Or how about these excuses? "Well, I
read a book on this sport, and I think
I know more than the coach anyway."
Or, "My parents took me to a lot of
games when I was growing up, so I
just don't want to go anymore."

I doubt you would ever hear these excuses
for missing a sporting event, yet these
are things people say about why they
don't go to church. They may have a lot
of excuses to offer, but none of them
are reasons.