“Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The cost of rescue is beyond our means….[Psalm 49:8 the Message]

On the lighter side, I am remembering our adorable young grandson, about age 18 months at the time, when he was leaving our church. We walked together down the stairs, my hand holding tight to secure him from falling. He gently persuaded me that he was quite capable of descending the stairs without falling–“Just watch me!” he exclaimed.

His hand slipped from mine and he smiled wide as he proceeded to show me his stability. While taking the first step, he reached down and grabbed hold of his little-boy tie, the length of which was no more than about 5 inches. He held the tie away from his body and as high up above his head as he could manage.

I said, “Spencer, why are you holding up your tie?”

He replied, confidently, “So I won’t fall.”

While this is one of my many favorite stories about our grandson, who is now in college, I think of how often I attempt to hold myself up by my own efforts. As cute as it was [at his age] for this little boy to try to do it himself and risking a fall, it is equally hazardous when we try to proceed forward in our own efforts.

My proverbial tie may not even be 5 inches long. In fact, the more accountable I am for what I know, the length of it seems to grow shorter. Nothing is safe but the hand of the Master.