There was an old saying about trusting all one’s goods to one ship.  It was replaced with the phrase “Don't put all your eggs in one basket,” which is a proverb or idiom first recorded in 1710, that means you should not risk everything or depend entirely on a single thing or course of action. It advises against investing all your resources, time, or efforts in a single venture, as it leaves you vulnerable to failure or loss. If you gather all your eggs in a single basket, there is a potential danger of dropping the basket and losing everything you have worked diligently to obtain. In contrast, the proverb advises considering different options and distributing your eggs across multiple baskets, so you don’t find yourself in a desperate situation if one of your endeavors fails.

    Andrew Carnegie, an American industrialist and philanthropist, led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history.  On June 23, 1885, he was noted as saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket is all wrong. I tell you: Put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch the basket. Look around you and take notice; men who do that do not often fail.” 

     Although Mr. Carnegie appears to have coined the revision of the old proverb, there is one yet older and wiser recorded in God’s Word. Proverbs 3:5-6 are very familiar verses to most of us: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

     We were created in the image of God for “His pleasure”- Rev. 4:11. What pleases God is found in Hebrews 11:6-  “But without faith it is impossible to please him.”  To have faith means to totally depend upon.  Isn’t that what we explain salvation as…total and absolute trust and dependence on Christ?  God’s Word tells us that “…whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”  Rom.  14:23 CHRIST is our HOPE- our deliberate ‘expectation of obtaining the good desired.’ (Webster’s 1828) He is the “one ship” that we CAN CONFIDENTLY place all of our goods in.

     God’s holiness demands that we depend upon Him as our Creator to take care of us and direct our paths.  Over and over again in scripture He promises that He will never leave us, and He will reward us and even give us the desires of our hearts if we will diligently seek Him with all of our heart.  One of the most precious passages in the Word of God is John Chpt. 14.  God very carefully explains to us all that HE IS HERE FOR US!  Jesus says, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” God ALWAYS keeps His promises.

     In Matthew 23:37 the Lord Jesus compares His love for man to that of the mother hen that gathers her chicks under her wings, and yet I’m sure His heart is heavy as He exclaims…”and ye would not!”  God’s chosen people wouldn’t even accept the Lord Jesus as the Son of God much less understand that He was God.  Dear Christian, God feels the same way when we do not depend upon Him to care for us.  He created us for His honor and glory…for us to depend upon Him!

     What is it that you need from God?  What begs do you have that you can bring before the Lord?  To “place all your eggs in one basket” means to risk all on a single venture.  How could you serve the Lord better if you would place all of your “begs” in one “ask it?”  In what ways are you depending on the Father to understand and take care of your every need whether it be great or small?  How are you living your life for the Son who gave His life so you could live eternally?  In what areas of your Christian testimony could you improve upon if you would yield to the instruction of the Holy Spirit?  Are you “glorifying God in your body, and in your spirit (soul), which are God’s ?”

     To determine the freshness of an egg, a process is used called “candling.”  The egg is held up to a light which shines through the egg.  If the egg is fresh it will appear clear- without spot.  If it is addled (mixed up or spoiled), the egg will look clouded.  Only if an egg is clear is it fit for use. Let’s not allow our lives to be clouded…shadowed by so many other things that we often depend upon.  Dear Christian, don’t allow yourself to be an “addlebrained” Christian!   

  God has left with us His Word through which He speaks and instructs us and the privilege of approaching the very throne of God in prayer!  Let’s depend upon God so that as His light shines in and through us, we will be found fit for His service.  As we depend more upon God, we will become more dependable to accomplish the work of God the Creator of the universe and our Heavenly Father.

     My prayer is that these thoughts will “egg you on” to do more for the cause of Christ by depending on the very God of Creation to do His work through you!  May we not stand before Him with “egg on our face” for trusting in our own wisdom rather than applying the truths we have learned from His Word.  May we learn to bring all our needs to Him and place them in one big basket of FATIH.