IT is a well-known axiom that like produces like. It is not so generally perceived that only like knows like. And yet, taken in connection with Jesus' declaration (John 17:3), "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," this is an important truism, the implications of which penetrate with unfailing clarity the mist hampering mankind's efforts for salvation.
All through mankind's struggles runs the theme reiterating the desire for human betterment. No one has ever done anything or committed a single act with the avowed purpose of hurting himself. Always the aim has been improvement. The thief steals in an attempt to enrich himself; the ascetic abstains in order to attain holiness; the martyr endures suffering to gain a heavenly reward; the would-be conqueror resorts to war to gain a favorable position, if not for himself, then for his people; and even the suicide thinks that by destroying himself he can find release from an intolerable condition. That the desired results have not been forthcoming does not do away with the fact that the intentions have been for improvement of oneself or others.
Naturally the question poses itself here, What is the reason that these attempts, even those which are utterly unselfish and honest, have not been truly satisfying and successful? The answer given in the Bible is just as thought provoking now as when it was written almost nineteen centuries ago. We read in James (4:3), "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." The failure lies not in the urge for improvement but in the methods employed.
