A Little Help

September 15

People don’t like being told they are beholding to anyone. Somewhat of a tempest in a tea pot occurred recently when a candidate for national office stated matter-of-factly, “If you own a successful business, you didn’t build that yourself.” T.V. pundits challenged the veracity of the observation and perhaps some voters resolved to cast their ballot differently because of it.

However the cards fall in November, the candidate, who currently holds national prominence, proved himself to be out of touch with many voters. This man whose academic and work records are sealed, who has no proof to present before the voters of his own diligence in attaining his lofty position, leaves those who have worked hard and achieved much more convinced than ever that his position is due to manipulation by his handlers more than because of his own merit.

The reality is that most successful people have had a ‘hand up’ somewhere along the line—perhaps more than once in their climb to the top—but without their own resolve, no amount of manipulating the system could result in their rise to the top of the heap in their chosen field of endeavor. If every human effort necessitates some element of assistance, why would we think that our spiritual goals can be attained without help?

Not only has there been someone, somewhere along the way to our salvation who has shared the Word of God with us, and prayed for us to receive His truth, but there is also the investment of God Himself in our discovery of His Eternal Truth! Ephesians 2:8, 9 tells us, “You have been saved by grace through faith; it is the gift of God, not of your own works; therefore, no man has a cause for boasting of his spiritual acumen.”