Mar 24 Too Cold to Plow

Mar 24

Too Cold to Plow

Pr 20:4  The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold.…

You can’t fix a leaky roof while it is raining and when the rain stops there isn’t any reason to fix it. That old common humorous saying is like our verse for today. They are both excuses.  People have been making excuses since the Garden of Eden. Adams excuse was a classic.

Ge 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest

to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

He had a double barreled excuse. He blamed both the woman and God. Men have been blaming their wives ever since!

Another classic excuse that is so bad it is almost funny deals with Aaron and the golden calf. Moses was on the mountain talking with God and receiving the ten commandments. He returned to find the people were partying so loudly he thought there was a war going on. At about the same time Moses saw the people were worshipping a golden calf. When Moses confronted Aaron about the golden calf Aaron’s excuse is nearly laughable.

Ex 32:24 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.

Perhaps it was not a sculpture of a calf. It may have been a pool of gold from the fire that sort of, kind of, maybe looked like a calf. That may have been what they were worshipping. Even then it took someone to interpret the shape as a calf worthy of worship. Just like today people find potato chips that look like Jay Leno or some other figment of their imagination.

Excuse making seems to be a human trait. Men do not want to accept blame for their actions and one excuse is as good as another. But our verse today deals with more than just excuses. Our verse deals with sluggards! Webster defines a sluggard as “habitually lazy”.  There are times when it is too cold to plow. But the diligent farmer is busy working on something else and will plow as soon as conditions are acceptable. The sluggard uses cold as an excuse to do nothing and maybe rolls over in bed and sleeps.

Pr 26:14  As the door turneth upon his hinges,

so doth the slothful upon his bed.

The sluggard may finally crawl out of bed but instead of working on something else finds another excuse to stay in the house.

Pr 22:13  The slothful man saith, There is a

lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

After while these flimsy excuses become almost funny. They are so ridiculous we laugh at the person who is foolish enough to offer such dumb excuses.

Christ used people who had dumb excuses as an illustration in Luke 14:16. A certain man had planned a great supper and invited many. When the appointed time came he sent his servant to remind the guests to come.

Lu 14:18 And they all with one consent

 began to make excuse.

One had bought land and needed to see it, another had purchased 5 yoke of oxen and needed to see what he had bought, and the third said he was now married and couldn’t come. All sorry excuses. Who buys land or oxen sight unseen?

The host was so angry he filled his table with anyone who would come, with the exception of those who had made excuse.

Lu 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of those men

which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

The spiritual meaning of Luke 14:16-24 is pretty clear. Those who have an excuse for not coming when called shall not taste the masters supper. Some people may excuse themselves right out of heaven. Not now. Some other day.  They have another road to heaven. They were baptized as an infant. Etc Etc. They cannot claim this verse. 

Ro 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness

with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

We can all do better in our Christian walk. The thought for today is to watch out for people who never read their Bible, never pray, find little joy in worship, and are careless in their manner of living. Yet they claim the name of Christ and make excuses for their lack of evidence. The man who claims to be a farmer, but will not plow by reason of the cold is not a farmer. He is a sluggard. May we be watchful for those who claim the name of Christ but in reality are lost sluggards without saving faith.

May God reveal to us our own silly excuses for not being what we should be. Our prayers should echo the words of Paul. 

Php 3:13 …I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.