Article November 6, 1978 Issue

Cut the current— shut off the error

R. WILLIAM ALDERSON

One day I was cleaning grass clippings from the bottom of the electric lawn mower. There was no danger that the cutting blade would somehow get started or that I'd receive an electrical shock. I was safe because I had pulled the plug from the power supply.

Then I thought, "Why don't I always disconnect beliefs in accidents and other evils from their supposed source?" I wasn't even tempted to believe that somehow, if I weren't careful, I could be harmed by the mower. Couldn't I be equally safe from every evil belief if I pulled the plug on it—realized that evil is cut off from any actual source of existence?

God is the only real power, the only origin of existence, and He is completely good. If a condition does not come from God, it is impotent. Paul reminds us, "There is no power but of God."^{Rom. 13:1;} And when apparently under Pilate's control, Christ Jesus said, "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above."^{John 19:11;} Jesus denied that any supposed force contrary to God had ability to harm him. Had he not walked away from perilous situations before? Even this time he could have escaped, since he knew where real power lay.