“God helps those who help themselves.”
Many people shriek, “That’s not in the Bible!!” Well, … it is, too! I can think of at least 3 places in the New Testament where we read those words. Read Matthew 7:7,8; John 4:10; and John 7:38.
It is very unfortunate that the principle quoted above has been so maligned through the years; it is really sad, considering that it is very true! Allow me to explain. First, some terminology, namely, “help themselves.” In the original language it means “to avail oneself of,” or “to take advantage of.” For example, nowadays we hear that phrase used at mealtime. The cook (in my house, it is primarily my lovely wife) assembles the family and guests at a neatly set table and proudly hails, “Everybody help themselves, … there’s plenty!” The cook graciously and freely offers her bounty to all present.
So, in the case of this principle, “God helps those who help themselves,” a clearer rendering might be: “God shows immeasurable grace to those who simply help themselves to it.” Consider the 3 references above. The John passages liken the grace of God to water and say there is enough to go around, and then some! There is almost a silliness to it! If you or I were to see a $1 hundred bill lying on the ground, would we need to be coaxed into retrieving it? Never!
Such is the grace of God. Such is the nature of God: generous, fatherly, gracious, giving, lavish, extravagant, unconditional, caring, rich, adequate, satisfying, eternal, sure, trustworthy, committed, loving, confident, personal, tasty! Thus, we read the final words of John, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
The Bible is a book about God, God is the hero, and the story is about Him. It was written so that you and I might come to know Him (Jn 20:31!), come to experience intimacy with Him, come to be loved by Him, come to drink deeply at the well that is Jesus Christ – come to help ourselves at the banquet table of His bounteous grace – and then, and only then, gush over with grace into the lives of our friends. This is what it means when the Bible says, “… By this all will know.”
Many people shriek, “That’s not in the Bible!!” Well, … it is, too! I can think of at least 3 places in the New Testament where we read those words. Read Matthew 7:7,8; John 4:10; and John 7:38.
It is very unfortunate that the principle quoted above has been so maligned through the years; it is really sad, considering that it is very true! Allow me to explain. First, some terminology, namely, “help themselves.” In the original language it means “to avail oneself of,” or “to take advantage of.” For example, nowadays we hear that phrase used at mealtime. The cook (in my house, it is primarily my lovely wife) assembles the family and guests at a neatly set table and proudly hails, “Everybody help themselves, … there’s plenty!” The cook graciously and freely offers her bounty to all present.
So, in the case of this principle, “God helps those who help themselves,” a clearer rendering might be: “God shows immeasurable grace to those who simply help themselves to it.” Consider the 3 references above. The John passages liken the grace of God to water and say there is enough to go around, and then some! There is almost a silliness to it! If you or I were to see a $1 hundred bill lying on the ground, would we need to be coaxed into retrieving it? Never!
Such is the grace of God. Such is the nature of God: generous, fatherly, gracious, giving, lavish, extravagant, unconditional, caring, rich, adequate, satisfying, eternal, sure, trustworthy, committed, loving, confident, personal, tasty! Thus, we read the final words of John, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
The Bible is a book about God, God is the hero, and the story is about Him. It was written so that you and I might come to know Him (Jn 20:31!), come to experience intimacy with Him, come to be loved by Him, come to drink deeply at the well that is Jesus Christ – come to help ourselves at the banquet table of His bounteous grace – and then, and only then, gush over with grace into the lives of our friends. This is what it means when the Bible says, “… By this all will know.”
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