God Helps Those Who Help Themselves.
The earliest recording of this saying is actually from Aesop's Fable " Hercules and the Waggoner." A man's wagon got stuck in a muddy road, and he prayed to Hercules to help. Hercules appeared and said. "Get up and put your shoulder to the Wheel." The moral given was: "The gods help them that help themselves." Aesop was a greek writer who lived from 620 to 564 BC, but obviously did not contribute to the Bible. As a biblical truism, the proverb has mixed results. We are more or less helpless when it comes to the work of Salvation. Most people would say that: "The Work of Salvation is in God's exclusive list." As an Instance, If one is looking forward to getting a Job, and such a person asks God for His help. This of course should not be a pretext for inactivity on the part of the individual. God is well able to do much more than that, but He expects us to always put our hands on the plough even when asking of His help(Luke 9:62).
Cleaniness is Next to godliness
Despite the strict rules given to the Israelites about uncleanliness as a metaphor for sinfulness and ceremonial washing required by the priests(see: Exodus,Leviticus), this phrase is not in the Bible. It originated as an ancient Babylonian and Hebrew Proverb, but became very popular during the Victorian Era after being revived by Sir Francis Bacon and John Wesley. Is the Proverb beyond the Metaphor? A new study shows that people are generally fairer and more generous when in clean smelling enviroument. But Jesus also exhorts us to worry more about the sin in our heart than the dirt on our hands.
