The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “success” as “favorable or desired outcome; also: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.” What does the word “eminence” mean? Merriam-Webster says of “eminence,” “a position of prominence or superiority.”
We all want to be successful. Unfortunately, the success we want could be the best education at the best university for ourselves and for our children, the best job with the most pay, wealth, a new car, the biggest house with all the amenities, boats, a vacation home or any material gain we can think of to make things nicer for ourselves.
I agree that it is pleasant to have nice material things, but this is not the success to which I am referring. I am talking about our success spiritually. Success spiritually is worth more than any silver, gold or other worldly possessions we can accumulate. We are told in Matthew 6:19-20 to lay our treasures in Heaven, not on the earth where moth and rust decay and where thieves break in and steal. So, you see, our priorities often are in the wrong place.
We are told in the parable of the rich fool found in Luke 12:17-19, “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So, he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’” He thought he had it made and could eat, drink and be merry for the rest of his life. However, God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you, then whose will those things be which you have provided?”
We are told in Matthew 6:33 to seek first the kingdom of God. Our first thoughts of success should be to always put God and His church first. God is to be above all – our spouses, our parents, our children or any worldly thing. In Matthew 10:37, we are told if we love our families more than the Lord, we are not worthy of Him.
I do not understand parents who say they love their children, and yet, they turn their backs on the Lord and His church to raise their children to live in the world like the devil wants them to live. If they really loved their children, why would they want them to be lost and spend eternity in Hell? I realize that when these children become adults, it is up to them to choose obedience or disobedience to the Lord.
True success – the success that really matters now and eternally – is following the Word of the Lord and rendering obedience to Him. Thereby, someday, we can spend eternity with our God in Heaven.