Your Definition of Success
ICS Daily Devotions
Mark 4:19 (NKJV) And the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
There is an age group which is either missing or very small in numbers in most churches in the world today, and that is between age 24 to 35. In fact, there is a shortage of pastors across the world because there is a lack of new seminary graduates. The reason for this missing age group and why some of us are not growing in the Lord is a struggle between trusting in God or mammon. In fact, we are faced with a choice to walk in the Spirit or in our flesh daily, and it will continue to be a choice for us until we return to the Lord in heaven.
It is natural for us to want to be successful, but why is it called the deceitfulness of riches? The deception is that riches will buy us a fulfilling identity and self-worth. The truth, however, is that not only do riches not fill up the emptiness in our hearts, it also does not give us a firm foundation of who we are. We live in a broken and fallen world, and that self-worth will not be realised until we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
There are two competing worldviews about being successful. The Christian worldview is that God is the source of all our blessings, while the secular worldview is that success is purely through meritocracy. While the Bible says that if we do not work, we should not eat, the secular worldview of being successful through meritocracy is founded on graduating from the top universities, being well connected and getting the best out of all the leverages in life. Many of us have identified and associated ourselves with our merits, built our identity on this worldview, and made money and power our gods. Christians who have not renewed their minds might still have this worldview with God out of the equation. Subconsciously, many of us may even be teaching the secular worldview to our children instead of the Christian worldview.
On the other hand, mature Christians believe that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, the Giver of life, the Redeemer of our souls, and the Source of all our blessings. He has blessed us with different gifts and talents, and we are stewards of everything that He has given us. Our identity is in Christ, which is a solid foundation. We are children of the living God, and we are secure in Jesus Christ because we are seen as accepted in the eyes of the Father. We can trust God and be successful His way.
Sermon Series: Don’t Let It Be Stolen
