Source of Success

Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – June 30, 2017

You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth… Deuteronomy 8:17-18 a

What is the source of your success? You may say that you worked hard to earn your good living. Yes, but God gave you the strength and energy to work hard. You may point out that you are smart and you have been able to penetrate a market and meet a unique need. This may be true, but God gave you the intelligence and the foresight to plan and create. He is the reason for your success, but it is easy to forget the source of your success.

Remember when you first started out and how needy you lived? You were needy for the right professional connections. You were needy for a career break. But most of all you were needy for God. There was a dependency on Him for everything. You would have not thought to go through a day without consulting and conversing with the Lord.

But now since you have tasted success, you may not “feel” your need for God with the same intensity, yet your need is even greater. Now that you are “successful”, will you credit God with your success and will you manage your wealth from His perspective? Or maybe your success has slipped away, and it left you feeling average at best. Perhaps it’s time to reemploy the tried and true trust in the Lord of hard work and abundant humility.

Have you become too busy to pray? Do you need more time to be still and sort out your options?

Wealth creates choices, and without the wisdom of Almighty God, you choose poorly. Yes, God is very interested in how you deploy His stuff. Is your goal ‘bigger and better’ or is it ‘giving and serving’? What a unique opportunity wealth has afforded you. As His steward, how are you investing your time and money in God’s Kingdom?

Your Savior Jesus is the originator and initiator of success. He gives you the ability to produce wealth and the Biblical guidelines to manage wealth. Have you forgotten the source? One good way to be freed from the grip of pride that accompanies success is to give away your stuff to the extent that you are led to limit your lifestyle.

“Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:6).

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