Out in the country there is a well that used to have good, cold water in it. Today it is dry. But the old pump still stands over the well. Would you go to the pump and work the handle up and down all day long, day after day? Of course not! Only an insane person would do that. When we pump, we want to pump water, not just air.
A canoe is a very good boat for a lake. It is quite safe, and there is nothing more pleasant than paddling along over the smooth water on a sunny day. But a canoe would be a very bad boat for the ocean, especially in a storm. If one should be caught in a great storm on the Atlantic, in a little canoe, he would almost certainly be drowned.
When the heathen pray to their idols, their thought is that they must do great things so that the idols will not hate them. They are afraid of their gods, and think they are always trying to do them harm. When they pray to them, they do not love them, for they can have no idea of a kind and loving idol.
We said in our lesson last week about prayer, that not everyone can pray. Only those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ can pray to God. Jesus said, No one can pray to the Father unless he has had his sins washed away. "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me”
Our God is not like any other god. The gods of the heathen are idols or demons. Our God is the one Who made Heaven and earth, and Who has been so gracious as to become our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
