The 1993 Christmas issue of Newsweek magazine carried an article on angels, a rather surprising topic to find in a secular publication. As might be expected, though, many points were in conflict with Scripture.

For instance, Professor Robert Ellswood, a specialist in unorthodox religions, made this assertion: “With angels around, people feel they don’t have to bother an Almighty God in order to get help.”

And André D’Angelo, a minister in Carmel, California, suggested that God is like the CEO of a large corporation, and “an angel is like a good executive secretary.”

Is our heavenly Father so busy operating the cosmos that He can’t be bothered with our requests for help? Not the God of the Bible who reveals Himself as the only true God—the One who sustains the countless star clusters in all their immensity and yet notes the sparrow’s fall. He invites us to talk with Him about even our trivial cares.

It is true that angels serve God and help believers (Heb. 1:13-14), but we do not need their assistance to get through to our Father in heaven. We can communicate directly with Him (4:14-16). With the psalmist we too can say, “The Lord will hear when I call to Him” (Ps. 4:3).

  — Vernon C. Grounds