Are We Looking for Success or Significance?
Good Morning Friends,
There is a relationship between effort and success. But God judges us by our faithfulness, not our success or effort. This is difficult because we live in a culture that loves winners and hates failures. And fear of failure, in a society where success is sanctified, can make us into perfectionists, demanding perfection not only of ourselves but worse yet, demanding perfection of others. Look at the Pharisees who put the law above the Lord. Thankfully it is fact that with the Father failure is not final. God has revealed His righteousness in Christ, and readily given His redemption, but it requires our reliance on Him to activate it. I have come to the conclusion that we need look no further than Jesus when we find ourselves asking if we are looking for perfection. Then it comes down to answering this question. Are We Looking for Success or Significance?
Scripture: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 (NRSV)
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalms 37:4 (NRSV)
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
Psalm 1:1-3 (NRSV)
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Matthew 6:19-24 (NRSV)
Message: One of the great modern-day tragedies is success which isolates us from people. It isolates us from discovering and experiencing meaning and significance in our lives. We celebrate success in the United States. We love to win and honor those who do. It is our passion and perhaps to a fault for it relegates those who have failed to the ash heap. You see, God redefines what it means to be successful. Success in the Kingdom of God is based on something very different than the world’s way of gaining success. It is based on an enduring relationship with the Divine… a process of commitment to a covenant and less on thinking. It is revelation. And during life’s most challenging times, as we learn to trust and find refuge in this relationship of obedience, we find that success really is just doing it God’s way….committing ourselves to honor God. The problem is that we can have worldly success without the presence of God and we can have the presence of God without worldly success. I have discovered that if success in life seems to be missing significance, the missing pieces might well be a lifestyle of stewardship and a reorientation of emotions and values. Money, anger and perspective are usually our last hold outs when it comes to our walk with God. We are all on a journey and if we follow Jesus we are actually pursuing a life of impact…one that actually matters in the stream of holy history. Decisions that bring us into closer obedience help us to live lives of consequence. We are to use our lives to celebrate His presence. If you want it done right, take personal responsibility to do your part. If you are looking for perfection, look to Jesus. We are to cultivate His character in us. We are to participate as brothers and sisters of faith demonstrating Jesus’ love communicating the Word made flesh. We must avoid being captivated by culture, manipulated by critics and motivated by praise. We are to persevere through the frustration of life’s problems, the debilitation of temptation and the intimidation of the world. We are to keep our eyes on the prize of God’s amazing grace. We are to run the race…fight the fight…knowing that this is hard…hard…hard work that we cannot do without the grace of God. Friends, here is the message. Real success is tied to the Lord being with us. When we have the Lord we have love and can prosper in the way God intended. It does not mean that everything will go perfectly but it does mean that to be truly successful we must be in the world as well as the Word. Friends, success is a gift from God. It is about righteousness and grace and honoring God. Wait for the Lord in patience and love and God will not disappoint.
Pray we realize that worldly success does not make us and worldly failure does not break us. Pray we have enough failure to keep us humble and enough success to keep us eager. Pray we learn to submit, with assurance of true success, to Jesus’ perspective, power and problem solving capabilities so we might be significant. Pray that when it comes to godliness we will be an example of God’s success and love as we carry out God’s will for God’s Kingdom. Pray we not judge a person’s financial success as a sign of maturity in the faith. Pray we are successful in God’s eyes. Pray we experience the success of wisdom. Pray we realize that true success is found in the Lord and in God’s purposes for our lives. Pray that we move from success to significance because we serve in the power of God’s love for our neighbors.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 