DEVOTION – DAY 109

Ex.32:22-24 “Blaming Others”

 

Exodus 32:22-24 “Do not be angry, my Lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, “Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” So, I told them, “Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off. Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

 

There is a natural tendency in all of us that when we are confronted with something we had done that we know was wrong, we try to blame others. We try to make excuses for ourselves, downplay our role and shift the blame. Isn’t that true? The above verses give us an example of this. When Moses was on Mount Sinai with God receiving the ten commandments, the Israelites waiting at the foot of the mountain became impatient. They turned to Aaron and insisted that he make for them idols to worship just like the gods they had seen their former Egyptian masters worshipped when they were slaves in Egypt. Fearing for his own safety, Aaron asked for their gold jewelry. He melted their jewelry and fashioned a golden calf for the Israelites to worship. When confronted by Moses, Aaron blamed the Israelites and downplayed his own role. He even suggested to Moses that the golden calf formed by itself from the molten gold.  This tendency to blame others for our own sins can be traced back to Adam and Eve in Gen.3. And we have all inherited their sin nature. Instead of trying to shift the blame on someone else, we should confess and repent of our sins. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us from all unrighteousness.”

I am reminded of a time when someone I know was angry with her husband for making bad investments and buying expensive gifts that they could not afford for their children. As a result, the family faced some financial difficulties. The wife blamed her husband for the financial mess they were in. And yet, she never saw that she might have contributed to the marital problems. She did not stop her husband in wanting to indulge in their children in buying expensive presents. She did not prevent him from making those bad investments. Her husband blamed her for being unsupportive. All he was trying to do was to meet her expectations and when his investments failed and got them into financial difficulties, instead of helping him, she was angry with him. This couple failed to see that in a marriage, it is not about who was right and who was wrong. Both parties had to admit their own failures and work at the issues together and not try to shift the blame onto each other. They had to learn to confess their sins before God and to seek forgiveness from each other before their marriage can heal. Recognition of their own sin nature and confession to God was the first step they had to make.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for forgiving us when we confess and repent of our sins. Please help us to examine ourselves and own up to our sins and not pass the blame onto others. May nothing ever come between our relationship with you. In the name of the Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.  

 

Questions

  1. How do you naturally react when you are confronted by something you have done that was wrong?
  2. What must you do when you have done something wrong that displeases God?
  3. What situations in the past have you failed to admit responsibility and instead blamed others for your actions? Share. In hindsight, what should you have done?