"Let me
share in the prosperity of
your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me
praise you with those who are your heritage."
In the
view of the eternal, what are the definitions of success and
prosperity?
By
exposure, we know the world's definitions of these terms even if we
can't eloquently put them into words. We've seen and heard the
examples of them in the world around us. They're highly touted in the
world's media with increasingly shameless promotion. They're shoved
in our face at every opportunity and they're rooted in vanity,
temporal pleasures, self gratification and self importance ... and
they have a purposed date of expiration.
But to
my simple mind, comes this self assessing question: do I worship and
aspire to tout what is perishable, or do I seek Godly wisdom to
pursue what profits me eternally knowing that I am created by God to
be an eternal being? As an eternal spirit, I will live forever to
reap the benefit of what I have sown on the temporary earth in this
body, and this body will one day be destroyed. My spirit will live on
- far beyond the lifespan of this decaying body. So what is true
prosperity and what success is true and eternally profitable to my
eternal spirit? Should the eternal not be my singular pursuit? What
wisdom directs my life at this moment and defines the meaning of the
words in question?
Man's
innocence was lost in the Garden of Eden and sin was allowed to enter
God's creation. So it stands to be counted true that in those who
have not received divine redemption, sinful nature persists to be
present. In them, sinful thinking continues to present itself around
the redeemed and it continues to antagonize those with divided
attention. But since we are eternal beings and we now recognize the
value of the battle we're in, have we assessed our thinking? Has our
thinking, like our future, been separated from that of the world?
Even if
we now stand redeemed, the enemy of our souls knows (likely better
than we) that most of the promises of our God and the power of our
new identity are predicated to a large degree on our obedience and
submission to our Creator and His wisdom. The enemy of our God, who's
out to destroy anything that belongs to Him, knows that if we remain
subject to any amount of worldly thinking or perspective then we have
left him a foothold in our lives. satan can use worldly thinking and
standards to tempt us and shame us into compromising the power and
promise of our inheritance in Christ.
So what
is the eternal perspective and definition of success and prosperity?
Our Father God in His wisdom knew that we would need to have and
understand these things and that we would be forced to attempt to
acquire them under fire from the enemy. So in His grace to us, He
gave them in His written Word and also with His Holy Spirit to give
us understanding of them. But if our devotion and attention are
divided by the spirit of this world, then our quest to attain them is
compromised also.
In a
world of compromise and self intellect, we will remain subject to
eternal poverty until we discipline ourselves and truly make an
effort to consecrate ourselves to the God who is not subject to, but
reigns over and above the world's perspective. Our focus cannot be
divided in this effort to find and understand what it is that frees
us from the domination of failed thinking and living. Our submission
to our God's teaching and perspective cannot be half hearted or
dictated by the acceptance of the worldly because our enemy is not
weak and he's not without understanding of our weaknesses. He will
prey on them continually until we come to stand in the Spirit of the
Living God and on the pure truth of His Word.
But even
in this effort we have to remain unerringly humble and submissive to
the Holy Spirit, deeply entwined in a most intimate relationship with
the Sovereign Lord to avoid becoming religious. Religion by itself is
dead, it's an abomination to what our Lord desires from us. The
Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day were religious and He reviled
their dedication to their ceremonious religion. It's the intimacy and
the fellowship of a consecrated and wholly committed relationship
with each of us individually and corporately that the awesomely
sovereign God who rules over all that exists desires from us in His
heart. He's told us how to get there, but the rest is up to us.
What are
His definitions of success and prosperity? Are they yours also? Where
do we stand with the sovereign and unchangeable truth? Have we taken
the time to really know? Food for thought ...
Ecclesiastes
4:4
Then
I observed that most people are motivated to success by their envy of
their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless, like chasing the
wind.
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