Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

Being the parents of four children, my husband and I have heard nearly every excuse in the book. When they were little, their excuses were fantastic! George, the former imaginary friend of child number 3, has shouldered the blame for more than his share of very imaginative offenses. As the children aged, the excuses became much less inventive and lost all their humor. They weren’t thinking. They forgot. Someone else started the fracas. Their brother dared them to do it. A friend said it was a good idea. Everyone else is doing it, saying it, wearing it, watching it. Sigh.

Thankfully, my children aren’t the inventors of excuses. Adam and Eve showed amazing proclivity for excusing themselves too.  We wonder why they put themselves in a position to need an excuse. Their life seems so simple. The answers appear easy and obvious. If you live in a perfect, peaceful garden replete with every conceivable resource and only one rule, why break it? Seriously. It’s one tree. 

And what was Eve doing loitering around that tree anyway? Was she admiring its beauty? Wondering at its forbidden status? Wishing she could taste just one exquisite fruit? What was she doing hanging about when temptation was out? And temptation was certainly out. The serpent, lurking nearby, strolls up and conversationally leads Eve straight into sin.  

The serpent’s question was rhetorical, he didn’t need an answer. He knew God had commanded them to leave that tree alone. The serpent snorts in derision. Then, weaving his web of evil deceit, he entices Eve to eat with a series of promises that sound golden but reverberate with doom. You won’t die. You’ll be wise. You will know good from evil, just like God does. And Eve, taken in by the lyrical hiss of his voice and the human desire to drift, wanders down the primrose path. She eats the fruit, gives some to Adam, and alters humanity for eternity. 

The fruit takes effect. Adam and Eve find themselves aware of things they were blissfully unaware of before. It’s unsettling. Racked with the guilt of their disobedience and knowing everything is laid bare before God, they hide when He comes to the garden to visit. He calls them. They don’t come running. Instead, Adam calls back from behind an enormous, blossoming rhododendron. They were hiding. They were afraid. They had sinned. They were naked.

Nothing catches God by surprise. He knew all of this, yet still He came to visit, to chat, to walk with them. He could have come up with a million excuses not to come. He knew what they had done. They had disobeyed. They had sinned. He still came. He asks questions, offering the opportunity to confess their sins. Who told them they were naked? Did they disobey the rule? Did they eat of the tree they were told to avoid? Double yes. Neither Adam nor Eve actually answers the question directly. They just start flinging excuses. Reasons to hide. Reasons to be afraid. Reasons not to come out and walk with God.  

Adam blames Eve. She’s weak. She gave in to temptation. She pressed him to eat. Surely it is all Eve’s fault! Eve blames the serpent. He tricked her. He lied. It is all the serpent’s fault. Their excuses aren’t hard to imagine. We use similar ones. We can identify with their fear, their urge to hide. It is terrifying to stand before the great God of the universe, Creator of land, sea, and space, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Lord and admit our guilt, our failures, our sin. Excuses and hiding are easy. Facing God in the middle of our mess is not. The same fear that hounded Adam and Eve chases us down too. (Genesis 3:1-13)

We shouldn’t let it. We have nothing to fear. The fear that makes you hide when God calls you is unnecessary. The excuses you have drummed up are superfluous. God is the God of forgiveness. God already knows your sin, your heart, yet still He calls. He knows the ugliness within, the damage sin has caused, yet still He wants to walk with you. He knows the serpent has fed you a bundle of lies wrapped up like a beautiful fruit, yet still He longs to be your friend, to be in relationship with you. There’s a litany of excuses God could use to drop us and leave us alone. He doesn’t. Regardless who you are, where you are, or the unclean condition of your soul, He comes to visit you. 

Ask the leper in Luke 5. Abandoned by friends and family, his life is effectively over. No one wants to be around him. According to Levitical law, no one is allowed to be around him. If someone so much as heads in his direction, he is required to yell, “Unclean!” (Leviticus 13) But Jesus came through town. He ignores the cries of, “Unclean!” He doesn’t look at the deformed hand, the missing ear, the ugly skin. Jesus doesn’t see any of that. Ignoring Levitical law, He reaches out, lays His hands on the leper, and says, “Be clean.” Jesus could have made a million excuses to ignore that leper, he could have used the law as a way to escape the ugliness, but He didn’t. Because Jesus wants to be friends with ugly worthless humanity. (Luke 5:12-13)

It’s what He has always wanted. Zaccheus will attest to that. Doomed by his own greed, hiding up in a tree, he never expected Jesus to call his name. But He did. Jesus could have made a million excuses to ignore the little guy in the tree. There were a lot of people. Zaccheus was small. He had other people to see, heal, help. Jesus didn’t make one excuse. He changed Zaccheus’ life. Because Jesus came to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:1-10) 

The woman at the well in Samaria never dreamed a Jewish man would speak to or engage her in conversation, especially if he knew her past indiscretions and current lifestyle. Jesus did more than speak. He changed her life. A life others deemed worthless, wasted. He could have made a million excuses to get up and walk away. She was a Samaritan. They didn’t associate. Her life was ridiculously messy. He stayed to talk. Because Jesus came to offer salvation to sinners. (John 4:4-26; Luke 5:32) 

The Biblical accounts go on and on. Jesus was constantly seeking to create friendships with sinners. The cross didn’t stop His calling. The grave couldn’t muffle His voice. Today, He sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us. (Romans 8:34) Hoping we won’t harden our hearts. Hoping we will hear His voice. (Hebrews 3:15) Hoping we will choose rich, beneficial friendship with Jesus over cheap, superficial friendship with the world. (Proverbs 18:24; James 4:4) He doesn’t have to do that. He could make a million excuses to forget about us. We have forgotten Him. Our busyness has pushed Him aside, edged Him out. We have hidden from His call. Like the parable of the rich fool, we get up early and stay up late worshipping at the altar of material things, but we ignore the most important thing–friendship with Jesus. (Luke 12: 13-21; Psalm 127:2) He knows it all, yet still He calls. 

I don’t know where you are hiding right now. I don’t know your excuses. I do know you don’t need either one. You simply need to listen. Jesus is calling. Calling you away from the sin that bogs you down. Calling you from the questionable haunts, the undesirable hangouts. Calling you from the bitterness, jealousy, anger of past rejections, confrontations, situations. Calling the complacent, the tired, the distracted. Calling you back to Him. Calling you to cast your cares, anxieties, burdens, sins on His shoulders, and find rest and peace in Jesus. (I Peter 5:7; John 14:27; Matthew 11:28-29)

So put down your excuses and come out of your hiding place. Whatever you look like, wherever you’ve been, wherever you are, or whatever you’ve done, Jesus is calling. He knows all about you, yet still He calls, offering forgiveness, freedom, and friendship. Jesus is calling. Hear His voice of love. Let your heart respond. Come meet the One who can tell you everything you’ve ever done, yet loves you still. I know. You could offer a million excuses not to come. Or you can come and find a million reasons to stay. (Isaiah 1:18; Lamentations 3: 22-23)