Someone to Blame

James 1:13-16

It a good thing to have someone else to blame for the wrong we do in our daily life, and for many God is who they blame.  Do you recall the line that Flip Wilson used often, “The devil made me do it” but did he really make you do it or is he just one more person to blame?  It seems as if no one is to blame for just about anything these days, it’s not their fault it’s how they were raised, it was the schools fault or the parents, but it seems no one wants to say I made a wrong choice, it was my fault.

James, who wrote this under the direction of the Holy Spirit, said you had better think twice before you try laying your bad choices at the feet of God.  “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”  And yet often your family, friends or fellow Christians will try passing the blame for their sins on God Himself.  Often, they will tell you they are angry with God for allowing this or that to come into their life, as if they had no choice in the matter.

The appropriate approach to being enticed by our desire is not blaming God or anyone else, but to bow down before God and confess that we try to go it alone, we attempted to live independently from the authority of our Father in heaven.  The apostle John had this insight into the subject; “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”  (1 John 1:5-6)  If you are into the blame game, it is so important to blame the right person, go to the mirror, and in that mirror you will see the one who is responsible for the sin in your life.  Now it’s time to make a choice, blame self and confess and be free from the guilt of your sin.  One choice, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice