Monday, February 24, 2020

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 24 February 2020


Petty Excuses

“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” (Exodus 32:21-24)

Today’s Morsel:  One of the toughest challenges of being a pastor is dealing with petty excuses.  People miss church for headaches, pain, snow, cold weather,  hot weather, their kid’s activities, tiredness, the list goes on; and yet those same people make no excuse to miss work for those same petty excuses.  Aaron gave Moses a petty excuse for his wrong.  First, he told him a lie.  He tried to blame the people.  And then he said that he just threw the gold in the fire and it came out a calf.  All excuses and lies.  Scripture says in Exodus 32:1-6,  “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”  It was all Aaron’s doing.  He shaped it.  He fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a calf.  But to blame the people for his actions was nothing more than a petty excuse.  Be sure that your sin will find you out.  Stop making excuses.  

Sing:  All my hope is in Jesus.  Thank God my yesterday's gone.  All my sins are forgiven, I've been washed by the blood.

Thought For Today: A petty excuse to do wrong is still sin.


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