06/08/2026
Devotional for June 8, 2026
What is success?
Be careful how you view success and how you define success. This probably isn't earth-shattering news to those who have been followers of Jesus for any amount of time. The secular world view and philosophy will tell you that success is bringing in money by the truckload. Success is becoming famous. It will tell you that success is getting the big corner office or winning the big game. Some will tell you that success is having the big college degrees and the high paying job. Some are a little easier, they say if you are happy you have found success. If you haven't accomplished at least one of these things, the world will tell you that your a failure. Worst yet, you will believe them. Even those who are the most devout Christ followers can fall into the trap of allowing their job title, their income or their accomplishments to define them as successful or to define who they are.
Now that we've looked at what the world views as success, let's look at how God sees success. First of all, let me say that in and of themselves, these things are not wrong. The Bible speaks of two people who were wealthy, King Solomon and Joseph of Arimathea. They were both wealthy and successful but it wasn't their wealth that made them successful. What made them successful was their obedience to the will of God. Success doesn't always bring wealth. If you look at the apostles, they were successful but they weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination, famous but not wealthy. Once again, it was their obedience to God that made them famous. If asked how to achieve success, the answer is really simple. Be in the center of God's will. I've known people who worked for insurance companies, real estate or sold time shares and based on this, I can say that most people who are in sales look at their percentage of sales made to determine their success rating. They must maintain a certain percentage for the company to keep them. Some do very well with it, others... Not so much. If you are in God's will, sharing the gospel, your success rate will always be one hundred percent. God only tells us to share the Gospel and what Jesus did for us. If we do that, we've succeeded, Isaiah 55:11 says "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." In 1 Corinthians 3:6, the Apostle Paul puts it this way. "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow." In other words, God will bring the increase. When we share God's message, we are merely helping to plant a seed or most likely, watering a Gospel seed that someone before us has already planted. The beautiful part is that every once in a while, we are the one that happens to be there when that seed blooms and a new Christian is born.
Being at the right spot in God's will is more important than any amount of money you can earn, any amount of fame you can realize, any amount of approval that you can receive from people because, "Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain."
Blessings
Pastor Greg
