Success

Success

Deut.8:17-18 ESV
"Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

How do we treat success in this life? Do we use it as an opportunity to build up ourselves, feed our pride and ego,  boast of our greatness, call attention to how amazing we are, glory in our attainment of earthly things? Or do we use success as an opportunity to thank and praise God, realizing where and by whom all the blessings of life originate, and then use that success to His glory? 

In Luke 12:15-21, we read of one such man who used his earthly success as the former, and we see the result of his foolishness. Jesus says in that text, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

We believe Jesus,  don't we? Yet how often do we live lives as if trying to prove His words wrong? We struggle, we worry, we let things and the attainment of more stuff drive us to exhaustion, both spiritually and physically.  We somehow think that success in the worldly sense is the key to happiness, but we know it isn't.  

A song lyric comes to mind when I think of this subject,  "and we want it so bad we tear each other apart..." How true that is, isn't it? We tear our lives, our families, our congregations, our whole existence on this earth apart in pursuit of "happiness" or "success", all the while not taking the time to realize that our pursuit is actually producing misery, failure, and destruction.

What is your measure of success?  What drives your life? Is it earthly wealth, worldly pleasures, carnal indulgences, notoriety among peers, making a name for yourself? And the list goes on... Or is what drives you the goal of reaching heaven?

For me, my earthly success is measured by my family. My idea of "having it all" is having a  loving, smart, beautiful wife and raising children together. My idea of "making it" is leading all of them to heaven where we will reside for eternity. My idea of overall success in life is living like my Savior.

Whatever I have in addition to all of what I've just stated is icing on the cake. I'm truly blessed in my life to "have it all" and I'm well on my way to "making it".

Do I live each day perfectly, free of sin, and free from the temptation to live contrary to what I've just stated? No. I have my struggles and so do you. The question for us all is what will we do from this time forward? Will we be content to just live with the knowledge that we need to improve and/or reevaluate our lives, our definition of "success", our focus in life? Or will we step up and take action? Will we take control of ourselves and our own lives and finally do what we're expected by God? May we let God's word convict us and let it cause us to make the changes wherever they're needed. Let's define success by God's standard and seek Him in all we set out to do.

We'll end with these verses:

Matt.6:24,33 ESV
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and   money...But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 16:24-26 ESV
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?"