The Success Formula

I just did a Google search using the word “success” and came up with 990,000,000 hits.  In case that didn’t sink in, that is nine hundred ninety million.  Come on people, we can do better than that!  I was hoping for a cool billion!

Obviously, everybody wants to be successful.  When you ask kids what they want to be when they grow up, not a one of them will ever say, “I want to be a failure.”   Of course, they want to be successful; they are just like you and me.  It’s an incurable drive, which is why, from the beginning of human history, an extraordinary amount of thinking and planning and effort have gone into achieving success. We’re just simply feeding the success beast within.  Thousands of books have been written about the secrets of success. Tens of thousands of people attend expensive seminars on how to be successful year in and year out.  A mind-boggling amount of brainpower is exerted every second of the day on Planet Earth to unlocking the secrets of success.  And to be sure, much of what has been written, offered and exerted is quite good. Yet the truth is, there really is no secret to being successful. It’s more of a recipe, really, a formula that anyone can follow to achieve success in their life. Are you ready for it?  Here it is:

Find out what God wants—then do it!

That’s what Solomon is saying: “Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place.” (The Message)  Other Biblical writers have said the same.  Consider the following:

Moses:  “I am about to go the way of all the earth, so be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.” (I Kings 2:2-3)

Joshua: “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9, NLT)

King David: “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”  (Psalm 37:4-6)

Jesus Christ: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  (Matthew 6:33)

So what is the recipe for success?  Simply this:  Make your highest priority taking care of the things that God cares about, and God will take care of the things you care about.

That’s his promise, not mine.

“Success lies, not in achieving what you aim at, but in aiming at what you ought to achieve, and pressing forward, sure of achievement here, or if not here, hereafter.” ~Robert Forman Horton

Winning At Life:

Take time today to run each of the things in which you are striving to be successful through the filter of the verses mentioned above.  Are they aligned with God’s truth?  Are they what God wants?  Are they kingdom focused?  If not, I think you know what to do.