Right; obviously this is the "real" reason!!???? This sounds ridiculous, but one excuse is as good as another if you really don't want to do something. Virtually ANYTHING can be justified if you want to!!! This does not make the chosen thing right, it just makes it palatable to you. Excuses are something we all do at one time or another and this passage from the book of Luke is a prime example...
Luke, Chapter 14
16 But he said to him, "“A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. 17 He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ 18 They all as one began to make excuses.
“The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’
20 “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’
21 “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
22 “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’
23 “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’”"
25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, 26 "“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. 33 So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
“The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’
20 “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’
21 “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
22 “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’
23 “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’”"
25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, 26 "“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. 33 So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
There is a cost to becoming a Christian. You will have to give up self indulgent ways and submit your will to God. Truthfully, at times this is difficult, but the end result is worth it!!! Its interesting to me that the three excuses given in vss. 18-20 were commonly accepted ones to keep someone from serving in the army, but they were disavowed by Jesus. He made the choice simple; the world or him... and the choice would be made on the basis of love. So, who or what you love determines you choices... makes sense to me. I didn't really believe the magnet thing anyway!!!!!