Thursday, October 29

Are you a success???

Are you a success?
Seriously. Has you’re life thus far been what you would call successful? Have you done the things necessary to put yourself in the position you dreamed of being in? I think if we are honest with ourselves we will undoubtedly look back on many “shoulda-woulda-coulda’s” in our lives. But do any of those “missed opportunities” translate into your life being a success or failure? I mean really? My mother used to look at me in the heat of my tantrums when I was young and say, “Joshie, Is this really going to matter in ten years?” (In fact, thinking back, I used to think my mother was the most ignorant woman on the face of the earth when I was young, but you’d be surprised what she learned by the time I got to be 24 years old!!) Anyway, it’s probably true for most of us that many of the small events that wreak havoc on us usually don’t amount to much in the long run. Success though, by the world’s standards is measured by the much larger events in our lives: Where we go to school, or if we go to school, what Job we get, who we marry, how successful our marriage is, What our children grow up to be and do…the list goes on and on. Most of those “Requirements” are usually “sub par” at best. We all wish we had better jobs, we all wish our house was bigger, we all wish we could change this and redo that and the more we dwell on it the more depressing our lives become!!!! I’m thankful God’s View of Success is so drastically different from the worlds.

When I try to think of someone in the bible who was a success the first person who pops into my mind is Noah. The bible says that “Noah found Grace in the Lord’s sight” why???? Let’s see God asks a lot from Noah:  His time (100 years to be exact). Energy- I cant imagine doing this now at 24 years old, let alone being 500 years old when I started, his Social status- he was the laughing stock of the whole known world for 100 years! Wealth – Noah most likely gave all he had accumulated over the last 500 years in this venture.

BUT EVEN IN ALL OF THOSE THINGS, THAT’S NOT WHAT MADE HIM A SUCCESS!!!

Genesis 6:22 says “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

The key to his success and ours is simply……Obedience.

God measures our success by our obedience to him. Are you truly living in Obedience to the Lord?
How do you Know?
Have you asked Him?
Did you listen long enough to receive His answer???                                                                                         -Josh