¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
¹² Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:11-13 NKJV)

One thing I was taught by my parents from an early age, and my wife and I subsequently taught our children, is to own your mistakes. Be honest and do not try to either hide from your responsibility nor to point the finger in another direction when it should be pointed at you to take that responsibility. In effect our teaching was no passing the buck.

However, today we see the age old practice of passing the buck in full effect. This is especially true in watching government leaders. None of them seem to be able or willing to accept fault for something they themselves set in place. They point to the other party or external factors and take little to no blame for how things work out when they are central to that outcome.

Reading our scripture today we see that this practice began from the fall of man. Adam passed the buck to Eve, who passed it to the snake, our enemy, Satan. How much do we still do this in our faith life. We feel the discipline of God on us for one reason or another and quickly start making excuses in our prayers when the true fault lies with us. Like God does not already know!

Reflect on: Are you taking responsibility for your actions and thoughts or are you passing the buck?