“Get it the same way I did — work for it!“
When Ken saw the bumper sticker, he appreciated its warning about envy. But he was curious. What was the “it” he should work for? Certainly not the old Dodge van the message was stuck on! That vehicle was unlikely to send anybody’s pulse racing.
What was “it” that the van driver had worked for? His house? His boat? His tools? Had he really made it his life’s work just to accumulate things? “That’s pretty foolish,” Ken thought.
Was the van driver referring to his career success? If he was successful, no doubt he had worked hard. But success takes more than work. It takes intelligence, ability, help from others, health. None of these things are our own doing — and nobody ever succeeds without them.
Was it his family? Now there something worth having. But again — it’s something no sane person would take credit for. Look at your own wife and children. Can you claim you bought them with hard work and now own them? That can’t be.
What about spiritual things? Could the van owner have meant that he worked for his good standing with God? Utterly impossible. Nobody ever got anywhere with God by working for it.
Forgiveness, salvation, even faith are all gifts from God. They are not paybacks. The Bible teaches that clearly from beginning to end.
“When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19).
The person who said that lived long before bumper stickers. If he had had them, he might have written: “Get it the same way I did — from a gracious God!“
Pastor R.
