God Helps Those Who...

"God helps those who help themselves."

I hate this quote! I know, I know, "hate" isn't a very nice thing to say so let me rephrase. I LOATHE this quote! Sorry, let me step back a bit. This past week I have been selling T-shirts with the Kats For Christ organization to benefit the American Cancer Society and this Friday night/Saturday morning we will be participating in Relay For Life. While sitting out at our table on campus asking people to donate $10 to ACS and receive a T-shirt in return, someone actually had the audacity to say this to me, and even more they started it out by saying "I think it says in the Bible ..."

FYI - That quote is NEVER in the Bible.

On the contrary, the Bible points out several times that God helps those who help others. Jesus lived His life here on Earth helping others, only to be helped through life by God. There is no mention of Jesus holding a job, but yet he always had food to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to sleep. The apostles were even asked to walk away from their jobs in order to help others, and when they did so, they too were taken care of.

I believe a scripture that sums it up best is John 15:13. "Greater love knows no one than this: that he lay down his life for his friends." I don't think this scripture merely calls us to die for someone else (though it does call for this and Jesus goes on to explain that it is what He is doing), but that we give of ourselves to help others. This could look like stopping when you see someone stranded on the side of the road. It could be helping your neighbor move when you would rather take a nap. It might even look like giving up a meal so that someone less fortunate can eat. Whatever it is that you do to help someone else, God sees it, is pleased, and will bless us a hundred times more.

C.S. Lewis is often attributed to a description of heaven and hell which I find very awesome. He describes both as a room where a great banquet feast is laid out on the most extravagant table ever seen. What's more is that the food never stops. The catch is that the only way to eat the food is with forks that are four feet long (way too big for anyone to be able to use). The difference of Heaven and Hell falls into the attitudes of those located in each place. In Hell there is constant fighting, because no one can eat the food and they are all suffering from hunger. Because they can't eat the food, it just keeps piling up higher and higher, rotting and stinking the whole time. They care only for themselves and can only think about trying to feed themselves. In Heaven however, the angels are rejoicing. They are concerned only with each other and in so doing they have discovered that they can eat all they want if they use the forks to feed each other. They are helping one another and being taken care of themselves all at once.

Jesus said "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well." (Matt. 6:33) God's kingdom is a place where everyone serves each other, and therefore everyone's need is taken care of. So to reiterate, "God helps those who help themselves" NEVER, EVER, EVER, shows up in the Bible, rather "God helps those who help others."