“And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? And another said, Is it I?” — Mark 14:19

What a shame, what a shame, When we point a finger to blame.

A few days ago I got up VERY EARLY in the morning in order to drive 90 minutes to Memphis, Tennessee to pick up a friend of mine at the airport.

It was 6:30 A.M. when I arrived at the gas station to fuel up before making the trip. (Yes, 6:30 in the morning is VERY EARLY for me to be up :o)

I arrived at the gas station, exited the vehicle, put the fuel nozzle into the appropriate spot and started waiting for the gasoline to begin funneling into my gas tank.

Nothing happened.

I watched the screen of the gas pump waiting for the numbers to reset at zero and the fueling to begin.

Nothing happened.

I started getting a bit irritated because I was running behind already. And, because it was 6:30 in the morning and I am generally a bit irritable at that time of day. :o)

I looked and saw the attendant through the window of the gas station. I tried to get her attention to tell her to turn on the pump so I could get my gas. She wouldn’t look my way! She was too busy jabbering with one of her friends.

I got more irritable. I started grumbling to myself that I was going to have to walk all the way inside to tell this girl to stop talking and turn my pump on. I mean, after all, I am a paying customer and she isn’t doing her job very well. She certainly was being inconsiderate to me!

At this rate I was going to be late arriving at the airport and it was going to be completely her fault.

I decided to wait one more minute to see if she would turn my pump on.

At just about the end of the minute, I happened to look down and what I saw brought things into stark focus…

…I had FORGOTTEN to press the START button!

And so, as it turned out, this nice lady who worked at the gas station had absolutely done ZERO wrong and it had been completely MY FAULT for the delay.

And once again God taught me a lesson.

You see, we often blame other people for our mistakes. We often point the finger of fault at others without ever noticing our own misgivings.

We say “You should have done this” or “You shouldn’t have done that” without ever realizing that WE may be the cause of the problem.

Adam blamed Eve (and God) for his sin. And we’ve been doing it ever since. It’s always someone else’s fault.

When, in reality, it oftentimes is our own fault.

Christian, today we need to be careful to examine our lives and make certain that we don’t get irritated and angry at people for things that aren’t really their fault. We need to make sure that we don’t cast blame on people without first looking at things from their viewpoint, walking in their shoes and taking a look at our own lives.

Instead of blaming others for problems that may or may not be “their fault,” let’s work together with each other to find solutions.

And to live out the love of Jesus Christ.

Instead of assigning blame, let’s wear His Name.

Jimmy D. Brown support@Living4Jesus.com