Burn the Excuses!

Ok, so I know no one is looking at this, but I just wanted to write something. Since I don't really feel like using Word and I want to feel like maybe someday SOMEONE will read this, here goes.

Fires have been raging for about four days now. If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at the news. Fires in San Diego have burned more than 500,000 acres, and nearly a million people have been displaced from their homes. That's a lot of people. More than Katrina, they're saying.

Now, I was one of the lucky ones who lived in the area that was not terribly affected (except for the smoke, of course). And I'll be honest. I'm not feeling enough. While I am glad people are volunteering, I myself have not been compelled to do so. I wanted to stay home--I wanted to stay out of everyone's way--and worst of all, I was glad for the days off!

I know this isn't confession, and I'm not even Catholic, but it got me thinking. How is it that we--as in me, er, I--can sit and watch these things on the news, know that a million people have been evacuated and are living in evac shelters, and not be affected? How can I sit here and be told that people are losing their homes--the homes that maybe they've lived in for years--and still not be affected? I mean, I care, of course. But am I volunteering? No. I'm sitting on my rear, watching movies and posting on blogs. I'm enjoying my fan, my cold iced tea, and my fresh salad for lunch, and I can't even go down the street and sort blankets for a while. Why is that?

It's all about excuses.

"They want to keep people off the road."

"They've been turning volunteers away--why go?"

"I'm allowed to have a day off, right? Don't I deserve it?"

"I should stay at home with my family... Just in case."

Excuses are stupid.

Now, here's the question: Now that I've had this epiphany, will I go out and volunteer tomorrow? Probably not. Why?

"They're already returning people to their homes. There's nowhere to volunteer."

In other words, I wasted my time and now it's too late. I missed my opportunity. Does this mean I lose brownie points with God, or that I'm a bad person?

I certainly hope not. Because if we're keeping points, I'm in big trouble. In fact, I think we all are.

Yet, even when we screw up royally--whether it's being a jerk to my friend or lying or hating someone or doing nothing when the occasion calls for me to do something--Christ's blood covers that. We mess up and we get forgiven. But it's easier said than done, isn't it? Because once we have the Spirit, we have a conscience. And then we KNOW when we do wrong. That's when we know and we feel bad about it. And we promise to do better "next time". But what if there is no next time? Or what if the next time, we still don't do anything? Does God say, "That's it. Strike two." or does he let it slide?

"Faith without works is dead." That's a verse commonly taken out of context. It's one that people claim to mean that we have to work for our salvation. But that's not what it's saying. You see, if we have faith but we don't act on it, what good is that faith? If we HAVE the faith of a mustard seed--the faith to move mountains--but we don't ever TRY to move mountains, what's the use of having that faith? It's dead.

I'm not even sure where I was going with that, but I felt like it needed to be said. **sigh** I suppose that's it for now. I've lost my train of thought. But at least I've given you (as in, me, because I'm the only one coming here) something to think about.

Thanks for your time. Maybe I'll post more later. :)