I Am a Master of Excuse

This excerpt from the message below moved me to tears...

Oh! that this would be my true ambition.

Christian contentment

is the direct fruit

of having no higher ambition

than to belong to the Lord

and to be entirely

at His disposal.

Alistair Begg

The Secret of Contentment

  

I am a master of excuse and pious coquetry

I fit finely inside replies of I and my and me

I am far, far too readily induced to compensate

For second miles I’d rather not suffer; the cost too great

I rise to meet the day and pray, then forget easily

That I can do all I can do through Christ who strengthens me

For when I repent and believe I am ‘mine own’ no more

But ought to be devoted to the Saviour I adore

And ought to be, with every gifted breath and day, content

Because by grace I have been saved; the temple veil is rent

And I, invited to boldly approach the throne of grace

Will receive grace and mercy to supply each need I face

I am a wretch; yet Christ loves with an everlasting love

By His divine power He fits me for Heaven above

Therefore I have no boast but this; the blood of Jesus Christ

Who broke the curse of sin and death through Himself, sacrificed

For I, a master of excuse, who forgets easily

That I can do all I can do through Christ who strengthens me

© Janet Martin

Gal.2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, 

but Christ lives in me. 

The life I now live in the body, 

I live by faith in the Son of God, 

who loved me and gave himself for me.

Phil.4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Rom.7:24-25

O wretched man that I am! 

Who will deliver me from this body of death? 

 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing