We don't - God does

Well-spoken words bring satisfaction; well-done work has its own reward. (Proverbs 12:14)

Words and work - both can be done well, or both can be done without thinking. Think your words before you speak them and you are likely to reap a harvest closer to what you desired, not a reactionary and hostile response in return. Think through your work, planning carefully each step you must take, and you will likely end up with the results you desire. Be lazy with either your words or your work and the outcome will be less than desirable.

John F. Kennedy reminded us that gratitude is good, but "we must never forget the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." We are to live by our words - so we must be very, very careful what words we utter! John C. Maxwell tells us that people "hear our words but feel our attitude". What are your words revealing about your inner attitude right now? Remember, you can attempt to conceal with 'just the right words', but the heart will betray the attitude at some point.

"All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today." (Pope Paul VI) Work isn't for the weak, nor is it for the wishy-washy. It involves this 'striving' that Pope Paul referred to - the exertion of vigorous effort and thought. We might attempt to gain wealth other ways, but the most rewarding is when we have given ourselves to the process and given the best we could give. 

Thomas Fuller reminds us, "All things are difficult before they are easy." We don't have a change of attitude just because we want one - we have to work for it. We don't change a negative habit just out of the blue - we have to adjust our lifestyle to no longer pursue that habit. We don't learn to think before we speak on a whim - we must practice listening, processing, and then use the wisdom God gives in the process. We don't - God does. This is the point here - good people aren't good inherently - they are good because God is in them, working to change their words and work so both match up and bring him honor. Just sayin!

Do and get...or get and do

Does God do the "stuff" in our lives he does out of obligation to us because we have somehow "earned" it - done enough, been good enough, or said enough of the right stuff? Do we obtain the blessings of God, including his attention and his directing influence, simply because we hit some point of "enough" to warrant it? The truth is that we are a church with a mixed up set of ideas at times. We believe in the work of Christ - salvation through his shed blood (an act of faith). Yet we cannot fully detach from the influence of the common beliefs of our day that you get good stuff when you do good deeds (works and right behavior). Is 'behaving good' all that it takes to get God's blessings?

Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don't these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God. (Galatians 3:5-6)

This is indeed a good question for each of us to consider in our daily walk! The idea of thinking anything we do, say, or imagine in our minds will bring us into a "better place" with God is pretty commonly believed in some circles. All the "moral striving" we go through - and for some of us, this may be quite a bit of repeated 'doing' - is really just "good deeds", but it is NOT what brings us into God's presence, gives us the leading of his Holy Spirit, or provides us with some good or positive outcome. It is Christ alone who accomplishes this within us making it important to realize that no amount of our own striving produces positive effect!

You have probably heard it said, "God helps those who help themselves." Although you may think it is biblical, it really isn't. When we say this, we are declaring our intention to take the initiative - to get the results we desire. This phrase actually originated in Greek mythology! Aeschylus wrote, "Whenever a man makes haste, God too hastens with him." This comes from the Greek tragedy, The Persians, written in 427 BC. Sophocles wrote, "No good e'er comes of leisure purposelessness; and heaven ne'er helps the men who will not act." He was another writer of Greek tragedies during the same time period. The concept of acting FIRST, then asking God for help AFTER you act is a concept taught throughout Greek mythology. Thinking God will 'back up' your actions is kind of futile if you aren't taking the right actions in the first place! Those Greeks were murdering people for the sport of it and saying it was all 'good'.

Although there have been various "iterations" of this concept over the ages, the most notable to us is the present day rendering of "God helps those who help themselves." This variation was penned by an Englishman (Algernon Sidney), intent on editorializing the governmental issues he was encountering in 1698. We probably remember it best as being part of the writing of Benjamin Franklin - a quote in his Almanac in 1736 - making it popular to the masses. Regardless of how we have come to learn this "concept" - we have learned a concept which is foreign to the scriptural teaching of dependence upon God for direction! Yes, God expects us to work - laboring well at our calling in life. Yes, he expects us to engage in life - open to the leading he gives. In fact, he invites us to act WITH him! Solomon penned the words, "I have seen all the works done under the sun; indeed all is vanity and grasping at the wind." (Ecclesiastes 1:14) At best, our works are "grasping at the wind" - any attempt to grasp the wind will show us each the futility of even trying!

We have an opportunity to change our mindset. We can either believe we must do "things" in order for God to intervene in our lives, or like we are taught in scripture, we can accept God has already intervened despite our "doing"! At best, our "doing" falls short of perfect faith! No amount of "doing good" gains us any closeness of walk with Christ. "Doing good" is an outcome of "being made" good! The "being made" part is God's part - not ours! So, if we have a tendency to be "self-initiators" in this walk with God, we might want to step back a little to see where it is God is leading! He may have an entirely different course for our lives - one which is not focused on all the "works" we have been pursuing. In fact, he may lead us away from some of those "works" into a place of grace we have never experienced before when we finally stop "doing" and just learn to "trust" in his completed work for our lives - the work of the Cross provided ALL we need for salvation! Just sayin!