Think We're The Only One Pulling?

An out-of-town motorist once drove his car into a ditch in a desolated area. Fortunately for him, a local farmer came to help with his strong horse named Buddy. He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy didn’t respond. Once more the farmer hollered, “Pull Buster, pull!” Buddy didn’t respond. Once more the farmer commanded, “Pull, Coco, pull!” Nothing. Then the farmer nonchalantly said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!”

And the horse easily dragged the car out of the ditch. The motorist was most appreciative and very curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times. The farmer said, “Oh, Buddy is blind and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try!”

We’re a lot like Buddy, are we not? We don’t like to do something if we think we’re the only one pulling. Need an example? Ever said, “Why should I put my time and effort into the work of the church? no one else seems to care!” Or, “Why should I put forth the extra effort to do a good work at work? No one else does, and it wouldn’t be appreciated anyway!” Or, “Why should I be nice to him? He’s certainly not going to make any effort to be nice to me!”

See what I mean? Like Elijah in the cave (1 Kings 19:9), we say to God, “I, even I only, am left” (1 Kings 19:10). Nobody else is faithful. Nobody else is trying. But God told Elijah He had "7,000 in Israel" on His side (1 Kings 19:18).

Dear reader, like Buddy in the above story and Elijah, we may be blind. Blind to what others are doing around us. But, even if we are the only one doing what is right ["pulling]" — we need to continue, for God is along side of us, helping us pull as well (1 Corinthians 3:5-9; cf. Acts 15:4; 2 Corinthians 6:1). We must keep moving on down the road, for there is much work yet to be done! (John 4:34-35; cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

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• What Kind Of Mind Do We Have?