“Success” was our topic Sunday evening, and Jimmy Pulliam did an excellent job organizing the program.  Our church leadership directed our praise, our prayers and our thoughts.  Jimmy organized his encouraging comments around the three-fold definition of success: Someone to love; something to do; something to hope for. 

Without someone to love, life is not very interesting.  One of the most basic issues of life is “what one loves most fervently and what the heart yearns for as its final happiness” (George Stroup).  As disciples, what we love most fervently is our creator and His son Jesus.  God has created us with a “God-shaped hole in our hearts” that nothing but God can fill.  So our primary love is directed toward the Father:  “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). 

Discipleship is always an active engagement with Jesus.  However it isn’t designed to be just “Jesus and me.”  We rely on one another to hear the gospel and to show forth the love and the grace of the Lord Jesus.  We’re called together as a people who live in community and demonstrate Jesus’ love to our world (John 13:35).  “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8).

Most of us are pleased that we have something to do — that we do something productive, something that is valued both ourselves and someone else.  There   are   two   basic  kinds  of

workers:  those who work to live, and those who live to work.  Winston Churchill once said, “Blessed are those whose work is their hobby, and whose hobby is their work.”  Most of us will fall somewhere in the middle, with a balance in life between satisfaction and obligation.

At the same time there is plenty of spiritual work.  We are God's fellow workers (1 Corinthians 3:9).  Titus 3:1 says, “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.” 

Perhaps there are some whose hearts are hardened due to life circumstances and they find it hard to love. They may have something to do, but it may not be something they enjoy.  And some have nothing to look forward to other than the same old routine, day in and day out.

The scriptures, however, point out a different perspective for believers:  “we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:13, 14). 

The good news is that through Christ, every aspect of life is transformed.  Even that which is routine is changed to that which is an honor to our Lord.  Colossians 3: 23 reminds us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”  The next verse emphasizes that our hope is genuine, not imaginary:  “Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

So we can live with “success.” We love the God who loved us, doing the work of ministry, giving of ourselves in our service to church and world.   And we are forever looking forward!

I look forward to seeing you soon with a Bible, a smile and a positive word!             RA