I was speaking to someone the other day at work, and he said something to me that left me thinking. He said, “it is just as the bible says, God helps those that help themselves”. Has anyone here ever heard that expression? I can say that I have heard it on numerous occasions, but although it sounds very pretty and perhaps correct, it is not something that is found in the bible. Nevertheless, I decided to research this theme a little deeper and I think that I have found the origin of this popular expression, and I wish to share it with you today. Let us now turn to the Word of God and research this theme.
Mark 10:17-22 - Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” 20And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
In my opinion this popular phrase originated from the interpretation of these verses. I say this because I believe that without a doubt in them we find that God helps and blesses all that first help themselves. What do I mean by that? Let us examine these verses in detail to find the answer to that question, and to determine if what I am saying makes any sense. First, it will be necessary to have a basic understanding of what was happening at this point in history. In this point in history, Jesus had already performed numerous miracles; He had healed people from leprosy, He had casted out demons, and had healed numerous people from diverse illnesses. Since the time that we share is limited I will not be able to list in detail all of the miracles and signs that He had performed, but I do believe that a good summary of it all is clearly illustrated in Mark 1:32-34 when we read, “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.” These and the other numerous miracles that He performed during His ministry caused His fame to grow rapidly, and this is something that we find reflected in Mark 1:28 when we read, “And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.” However, this fame and recognition produced a great opposition by the religious groups of that time, and they started to work to destroy Him. This is something clearly stated in Mark 3:6 when we read, “Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” Keeping these brief details in mind, let us now continue with our study for today.
In the verses that we are studying today, we find something that perhaps many do not completely understand. Here we read, “Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” If we limit ourselves to only read these verses without taking the time to study them in depth, at first glance we see that Jesus appears to be reprimanding this man for calling Him “Good Teacher”, but the reality of it all is that this is not the case. Jesus was not reprimanding him; rather He wanted this man to recognize that He was much more than just a teacher. In other words, He wanted this man to recognize the fact that a man could never stand before God in righteousness. This is why He said, “No one is good but One, that is, God.” With this here Jesus was saying, if I am a simple man, a good teacher, then I am not “good” and I cannot have the power of eternal life; however, if I am God, then I do have the power of eternal life. Therefore, we see that what happened here was not a reprimand it was a teaching. Jesus was attempting to teach him what we find in John 14:6-7 when we read, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
When we compare what happened back then with us today, I think that we will all agree that there is not much difference between this man and many of us. I say this because when we initially arrive at the feet of our Lord, we are all anxious, we have a great thirst for knowledge, and we are impatient always wanting to learn more and more. In other words, we do just as the man in these verses, we run to Jesus. That is to say, this is what many call the first love, but the problem is what happens through time. The problem is that many allow the circumstances of this life to rob them of this beautiful feeling that God gives us when we arrive at His presence. Our Lord clearly expresses this sentiment in Matthew 24:12 when we read, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Something that is very evident in the verses that we are studying today is that this man had a genuine desire to learn, and a heart that was completely willing to receive, and this is why we see that Jesus begins by telling him, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And this man without hesitation answered, “…Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Now we must ask ourselves, why did Jesus answer him like this? Jesus answered him initially in this fashion because the Ten Commandments are what guides us to live a moral life that pleases God. In other words, the Ten Commandments serve to teach us between good and evil.
Just like all of us here, this man new the difference between good and evil and he had been brought up obeying God’s law. Jesus know all of this when He was speaking to this man, but He wanted to teach this man, as well as all of us today, a very valuable lesson. When this man answered Jesus saying that he obeyed the law, we see that the Word tells us, “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him”. Why did this happen? It happened because Jesus looked deep inside this man’s heart; the Lord deep looked inside this man’s heart and found a willing and a genuinely sincere heart. In addition, because He saw this willingness and sincere desire, He revealed to him the next step to follow in order to receive the gift that the Father had sent. He told him and tells us today that we must follow the Ten Commandments, but that there is something more to do besides that; the Lord revealed to this man that now he needed to follow Him. The Lord said, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me”. With these words here Jesus told this man, God helps those that help themselves”. Can you see it now? Allow me to illustrate the point that I am trying to make a little differently.
The truth of it all is that there is nothing wrong with being rich; there is nothing wrong with having a great wealth of money or material possessions. The problem does not lay there; the problem occurs when we allow these things to be the dominating or driving factor in our life. Look at how this is something that is clearly stated in 1 Timothy 6:10 when we read, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” The reality of it all is that not all of us posses great material riches, and that the poor will always live among us. This is something that the Lord clearly tells us in Matthew 26:11 when we read, “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.” This world will always have people that are poorer or less fortunate than we are, but let us never forget that we cannot close our eyes of those in need. And let us always remember what we find in Proverbs 19:17 when we read, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.” Not all of us are rich in material possessions, but we are rich in many other ways. Let us take a brief pause here to determine if what I am saying makes any sense. Let us examine the word “rich”; this word is not used exclusively to describe a wealthy person. The truth of it all is that there are a large number of poor people that are extremely rich. I say this because a person may be considered poor as far as money is concerned, but at the same time can be considered extremely rich because they have a beautiful and loving family, a wife, a husband, sons, daughters. These are things that money cannot buy and there are many with great wealth in money that long to have them. A person may be considered poor in money, but at the same time lead a rich and joyful life, enjoying the blessings that God bestows on His faithful people. A person may be poor in money, but at the same time be rich in time, that is to say that they have the time to effectively mount an evangelization campaign in their neighborhood, distribute pamphlets in the market places, and to work with a sincere heart for God’s kingdom. I could go on citing examples, but I think that everyone clearly understand the concept that although we may be considered poor in material possessions, we are full of riches that money cannot buy. This is why there are so many wealthy in money, but that lead a miserable life because they do not have Christ in their heart.
The Lord told this man that he need to do something else, He told him to give away all of his possessions and to follow Him, “But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” This man was unable to follow the instructions that Jesus gave him because he valued the material possessions more than he valued God’s kingdom. This man was unable to follow the instructions that Jesus gave him because he was unwilling to leave behind all the comforts that he as so accustomed to have. In other words, he allowed the things of this world to drown the genuine and sincere desire that he felt when he first saw the Lord. Let us learn from this lesson. Let us learn that we must never allow the things of this world to come between us and God. We cannot allow the things of this world to dominate our actions or decisions; we must always allow God to be fully in control of all that we are. Let us always remember that if we want to receive God’s blessings, we first have to start by helping ourselves. Tell the person sitting next to you, God helps those that help themselves. How can we help ourselves? We help ourselves by remembering that our Lord is a perfect gentleman, and that He will never force himself on us. Our Lord is a perfect gentleman and He will never enter a place where He has not been invited. Therefore, the first step that we must take is to repent from our sins, and accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior.
The second step that we must take is to take the time to know Him; and this is something that can only be accomplished through His Word. We have to take the time to pray daily, take the time to praise Him and only Him. We have to leave behind our riches and comforts, and concentrate only on Him. This means that we have to have the courage to assume our responsibility of preaching the gospel to the world without worrying about what the world mat think about us. We have to begin to build up our riches in God’s kingdom rather than here on earth. The Lord tells us very clearly in Matthew 6:19-20 when we read, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” The sad truth is that many only concentrate in the material, and ignore the reality that all of those things are only temporary. However, when we concentrate more on the material things than on God, then the message that we are sending is that our needs, lusts, and desires take precedence over serving God. We are simply saying that all of those things are more important than to truly know Him in all of His glory.
In conclusion, what happened here with this man is not so different from what happens with many today. This man had a great desire in his heart, he recognized that Jesus was good, but he allowed the circumstances of this world to stop him from knowing for whom He really was. This man was unwilling to get rid of his riches and comforts to follow Him.
There are many today that do the same; many of us will recognize that He is our Lord and savior; we recognize that He is the only one than can save us, but we are unwilling to pick up our cross and follow Him. We are unwilling to leave behind our comforts or comfort zone, and abandon those things that we very well know do not please God. That is why I say to you today, God helps those that help themselves. We have to help ourselves; first we must repent of our sins; second we have to cleanse our hearts and begin following Jesus. I am sure that all of us here would like to receive the blessings that God has for us, but first we must begin by helping ourselves. Do you want to be helped by God? Then begin by helping yourself, star by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior, begin by depositing all of your faith on only Him, and He will give you the peace that you long for, and be ready to follow Him wherever He may lead you trusting that he will guide your.
