SUCCESS
~ Pastor Thuamminlian
Bible references: Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:7-8; Matthew 16:26; Matthew 7:21
What is success? When is a person considered successful? Did those people that most of us regarded as successful really succeed and are they content with it? As a Christion, what did the Lord say about success and achievement? Does it make us insecure or fill us with disappointments rather than being a drive force? With much hope and expectation, we sat out for our dream, be it academics or financial stability and all of us yearns for a certain degree of success in whatever aspects of our life. In the long run, will all the struggles and the achievements be worth it?
In order to deem someone successful, there has to a certain benchmark for success and according to this we decide whether a certain someone is successful or not. For a student, securing the pass percentage during exams will be considered a success, so when we think about success, we often relate to achieving something big in our life. But this may not be a good success and can as well brought us despair as evident from many of the famous people and achievers of the world we thought was the living definition of success.
In this modern world we live in, man stood for themselves without giving much remorse for others and justifying the means as long as it satisfies the end and where the fittest survived. Life can be hard, disappointments everywhere, overshadowed by peer pressure or from our family, bad relationships or unhealthy family. To achieve something, the path may be tough it is often a struggle filled with trials and tribulations but do not be dismayed and keep your trust in the Lord, live by His will then you will have good success wherever you go and He will never leave you nor forsake you.
As Christians, what must be the ultimate success and achievement and we ought to know what The Bible has to say about success. From the gospel of John, we can learn that the soul is much more of a value then the world could ever offer. What Jesus promised is an everlasting life in paradise filled with joy and bliss. Let us not be blinded by the temporary joy and happiness that the world tempts us with., like the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh who were tempted by the mere grasses when God promise them a land of Milk and Honey and all sorts of riches.
The way we judge and look at things could have been misguided; we must never lose our soul over our ambition. Start looking at the big picture and change our perspective of success. We may be perceived by the world as a failure and disappointment but in the eyes of our Lord we will always be achievers and His children. The most relative reference can be found in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, the world will regard the latter as a rich and successful man whilst the former as an abomination but ends up in the arms of the lord whilst the other suffers in Hell.
