Actions Determine Grace

Sincere effort and actual activity entitle you to the grace of God. When Jesus Christ entered the precincts of the Temple of Jerusalem and found people sacrificing doves and other living beings to God, he released the birds and condemned the acts of bloodshed. The priests and scholars resented his act and argued that the God in whom they had faith accepted the sacrifice and was propitiated thereby. They asked Him for evidence of authority to interfere with the dictates of religion. Christ went on to tell them a parable. Once there was a farmer who had two sons. He asked his first son to go out to the field to watch the crops ready for harvest. The son refused to obey him. Then he asked the second son, who readily agreed. But what happened then was that the second son later thought of the bother and sleeplessness he would experience by the watching, and so, he did not go. On the other hand, the first son repented for his refusal to do as bidden, and he went and watched the crop.

‘Now,’ Christ asked, ‘who among these two pleases the father more—the son who declared his assent by word of mouth and disobeyed in action, or he who disobeyed by word of mouth but obeyed in action? You obey in words but disobey in action. My action reveals that I do acts which God has commanded. You are your own witness as to whether you follow the dictates of the Divine father. I have greater authority than you do, for your action shows that you disobey whereas my action proves that I follow His commands.’

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. XI