Excuse Me, Your But's In The Way

TITLE: EXCUSE ME, YOUR BUT’S IN THE WAY

SCRIPTURE: HEBREWS 10:24-25

(This is not an original sermon, although I have adapted much for present day delivery)

I want to lift as a thought this morning Excuse me, your but’s in the way. We all have them, they are usually pretty big, though some may be bigger than most, but we all have them. Some are so big that others try to hide behind them. Some of us use them more than others, however they always end up getting in the way.

• But I can’t

• But I’m over 50

• But I don’t have an education

• But I don’t have any money

• But I’m in the wrong job

• But I’m in bad health

• But I’ve been through so much

• But I’m not very Popular

• But I don’t have anything to offer the church

• But, but, But

• My what big buts we have

• Notice how they all start - But I

Let me share something with you, everybody we know has a big but. And more often than not, it’s that one thing that keeps us from living a consistent life for Jesus. Let me expound a little bit. See if you can recognize any of these buts –

• But I have to work more

• But my kids have practice

• But it’s such a beautiful day

• But I’m just not in the mood

• But I deserve a break today

Every kind of ‘But’ interferes with my life of just living an authentic life for God. And more often than not it always has something to do with some sort of BUT. The truth is even the smallest Buts can interfere with our relationship with God. It really can, the littlest BUT can even distract me and get me to think -

• I am not going to Pray today

• I’m not going to think about it today

• I’m not going to deny myself

• I’m not going to read the Bible

• List goes on and on and on

Whatever it is God asks me to do; I seem to have a BUT for it. And the biggest ‘But’ of all time is the ‘But’ that gets in the way of me just hanging out with God and reading His Word. It’s true, think about it. All the times you’re about to open the Bible and all of a sudden a big giant ‘But’ gets in the way.

• But I’m tired

• But I have to get on Facebook

• But I read last night

• But the game is on

• But I don’t like Leviticus

• But I don’t like to read

• But it’s too hot in here

• But I don’t understand it

• But it’s boring

• But what does it have to do with me in the 21st century anyway?

The origin of every excuse is the failure to do something. It was Deion "Prime Time" Sanders, the Football Coach of Jackson State University and former outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, who grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would be athletes pushed him to make a success of himself. He explains - "I Call Them Idas.

• If I’da done this - I’d be making three million today

• If I’da practiced a little harder - I’d be a superstar’

• They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners

• When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn’t went straight to the streets and never left

• That moment after school is the moment we need to grab

• We don’t need any more Idas

• I stopped by to tell you this morning – EXCUSE ME, YOUR BUT’S IN THE WAY

A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

• I’ve gone for 30 years now," he wrote," and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons

• But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them

• So, I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all

This started a real controversy in the "letters to the editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this response --

• I’ve been married for 30 years now

• In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals

• But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals