Success...a numbers game?

What is success?  Is it how many friends we have?  Is it how much money we earn or how much is left after we pay the bills? Is it based upon the number of clients, the number of cars we own, the square footage of our home, the number of homes? Or is success a deeper measuring tool of peace, well-being, joy, happiness?

The word 'success' is used in The Holy Bible, the King James Version, only once.  It states, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."1

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth..." When do we see someone pulling out their Holy Bible for direction, office protocol, rules, laws?  Could this explain the office politics, the disgruntled employees, the undercurrents of animosity, anger, blood thirsty competition? What about the devastating moments in the economy and over a million people out of a job?  "...but thou shalt meditate therein day and night..." Why have so many put aside their Holy Bible, turned away from its recipe for success, its direction for all on how to live life successfully?

To most, if they lost everything, job, house, savings, wouldn't they also lose their sense of "success"? Why?  Because success is based upon things and titles but not on "...do according to all that is written therein:..." People base success upon status quo, peer pressure, 'keeping up with the Jones' mentality.  They base success upon the numbers.  They get lost in the competition for these numbers, losing sight that there is no real competition for Good.  God is Good and God gives to us all His ever-present Good. If we remembered this and lived this understanding that there is no competition to God's Good, then the words "...thou shalt make thy way prosperous..." would become evident in our lives.

When we start to turn to The Holy Bible and its directives "...then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." We will see that 'good success' is a natural effect of turning our lives back over to the God who created all life.

We need to base Success upon spiritual lessons learned, prosperous spiritual gain in understanding, a feeling of self-worth that comes from the knowledge that we are God's children, 'heirs of God, and joint-heirs with the Christ'2.  If we base success on what we already permanently have as the children of God, our success couldn't be taken away or lost by outward circumstances or events.  This view of success, through the eyes of spirituality, reveals to us that success is permanent, changeless. It cannot be altered, lost, or taken away by any type of force.  No burning building and all of its belongings; no job loss, demotion, denied promotion; no pay cut, loss of savings, or bankruptcy; nothing could alter our sense of success, not even divorce can take our success away when we place it in God and God's laws.

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."3

Let us turn our view of success from the mortal and temporal to the spiritual, permanent, and significant.  Then we will be placing success on firm ground and our sense of peace of mind in a place of safety.

1 Joshua 1:8
2 Romans 8:17
3 Joshua 1:9