True Success

The story is told of three undertakers who were at a funeral. As they were reflecting on the event, one of the observers posed this question to the undertakers: “You have all seen a lot of funerals in your life, and that got me thinking — what do you want people to say about you at your funeral?” Without missing a beat, the first undertaker said, “I want people to remember all the great investments I made and the philanthropy I was able to do with all of it.” The second undertaker nearly interrupted him and said, “No, not me. I want people to talk about how I was a family man and never missed an extracurricular activity my children were involved in.” The third undertaker pondered for a minute and said, “If I were lying in the casket, I think I would want the people to say, ‘Did you see him move?’”

This little story may solicit a knee slap or an eye roll, depending on your inclination toward dad jokes, but it does illustrate how different people view true success. Some claim success is found in wealth, others in family, and some in longevity of life. While people may strive for different kinds of success, one thing I have found is that everyone wants to be successful in life. The question is, how do we obtain success — true success?

Interesti

ngly, the word “success” is not overly common in the Bible. In fact, in the King James Version, the word only appears once, in Joshua 1:8: “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.”

In this verse, we see the roadmap that God gives for us to have true success. This roadmap is rare and precious for all who want to achieve true success, as all other roads lead to failed lives. What is the roadmap? It starts with God’s law. While God’s law may often lose popularity contests, it is the consistent guardrail in life that keeps us from driving over a moral cliff and into grave eternal consequences. Many bemoan Christianity as being a list of don’ts, and while it is true that there are don’ts — namely, don’t do things that will destroy your life or the lives of those around you — there are also a list of do’s: namely, do what is right before God. If we start with a prejudice against God’s law, we are certain to drive our lives over the cliff of immorality and into destruction.

The second marker on the roadmap to true success is to speak God’s law. It is not enough to have a good disposition toward God’s law — it must be in your mouth. You talk about what you are excited about or care about. When the Cyclones are good, you will hear me talk about them more than I should, and when they are bad… well, grumbling isn’t becoming of anyone, especially a pastor. When was the last time you talked about what God has commanded you to do? That is the pathway to true success.

In tandem with speaking God’s law comes the next marker, which is thinking God’s law. What occupies our thoughts often controls us. When a person succumbs to crippling thoughts of worry, soon their actions become frightful and overbearing. When God’s law takes the seat in our mind, soon our feet will follow, and our lives will be established.

That leads us to the final benchmark on the road to success, which is to observe and do what is written in God’s law. If you want to have true success in life, you must ask the question, “What is right by God?” or “What has God said about this?” Then you must act accordingly. Ultimately, true success requires action. If you want to be successful, you must speak, think, and obey God’s law.

If you follow these benchmarks, you will find yourself on the road to success. This success will be true success, no matter what your path in life is. God’s law, of course, will lead us to moral success, but we must not forget that God created the physical world as well as the moral world, meaning He is the author of both sets of laws. If you follow His laws, you will have true success.