Excuses for missing #church

Through the years I have heard lots of excuses as to why folks have missed
attending the worship assembly of their church. Understand, they don't need
to make excuses to me, I'm only the preacher, and it is God to whom they
really need to explain themselves (if any explanation is needed).

Personally I've always thought that one excuse is as good as another if you
didn't want to do something. However I may have been wrong! I just heard an
imaginative and humorous excuse I thought was worth sharing.

A preacher met a habitually absent church member at the local grocery and
the church member immediately began to make excuses for not being in
services. The preacher responded, "You really don't have to explain yourself
to me," but the absent member insisted that they really had a good excuse.
The minister said, "OK, what is your excuse for not meeting with the church
yesterday?" To which the member replied, "Well, you see it was like this. I
was abducted by aliens and the implant they put in the back of my head
caused an infection that required me to be held longer than usual."

If you are done laughing, like I said, "one excuse is as good as another if
you didn't want to do something." The funny thing about an excuse is that if
you feel like you need one; it really may be saying something about the
condition of your spirit.

I thought you might find it interesting what the Apostle Paul writes in 2
Corinthians 13:5 regarding our spiritual condition. He says we are to:
"Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely
you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of
genuine faith." (NLT)

Now the word translated as "examine" in the original Greek carries this
meaning, " to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his
quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself."

When is the last time you really stopped and "examined" yourself? We get
into habits which sometime are not the best for us, such as being frequently
absent for the meetings of the church. The writer of the book of Hebrews
reminds us: "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for
God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one
another to acts of love and good works. 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 10:23-25)

Some say, that they have just gotten into a rut, but then I'm reminded that
the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth! So. what's your
excuse?

Russ Lawson