A DAY OF FAVOUR?

“A favour is a friendly, gracious, kind, generous or obliging act that is freely granted. It is offered and not solicited.” - Angelica Hopes

I know you have heard it over and over again that if you want to succeed in life you must “work hard”, others say it's “smart work” not “hard work” that puts it all together. Another school of thought say, you must be “ambitious”, yet some declare that the key to success is “confidence”, while others will put their money, on “Wisdom”, “intelligence” etc.

I certainly do believe that all the above mentioned qualities are undeniable pre-requisites to success and are very important, but I do believe that despite how hard you work, how smart you may be, how ambitious, wise, intelligent, confident and so on. Success requires grace; an unmerited favour. Something your personal effort can’t do for you.

When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his guilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court. The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars - a dollar for every mile you went over the limit." Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said.
"The fine must be paid - but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"

You may never become the smartest person on the planet, nor the hardest worker nor the most ambitious, and there will certainly be days that your confidence is at its lowest. In fact there is a limit to which human effort can go, that is when you require grace, a day of favour is simply worth more than a thousand years of hard labour.