The Way to Success

Success is a prize most people chase. There are many definitions of what success is in our world, but God gives a clear description of what it is and how to achieve it.

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalms 1:1-3 (NIV)

We seem to live in a “gray” world. It is easy for us to get caught up in the attitudes of the world in our business lives separating them from our spiritual life. The irony is that we even think we can do that. I hear the term “gray area” often. In business and in life there is no such thing as “gray area.” The ways of God are black and white. Gray, by the way indicates, the presence of black. It is something white becoming black or something black becoming white. It is a treacherous place to be. God said let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no”.

In our lives and in our business (can you really separate the two?) we must walk in the counsel of God’s Word. The Psalmist says that the key to success is “delighting in” and “meditating on” the Word of God.

The Hebrew word translated delight here is translated in other places of the Bible as desire, pleasure, or purpose. The writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is saying if we want to prosper and be successful we must desire knowledge from the Word of God, find pleasure in God’s Word, and find our purpose in God’s Word.

The Hebrew word for meditate means to mumble or talk under your breath. He is simply saying that all day long we are living in the principles of God’s word. It is present with us. It is like getting up in the morning, turning on the radio or TV and hearing a song. As you go through the day you catch yourself humming or perhaps whistling that song almost involuntarily. The word for meditate in the New Testament means to revolve in the mind. Hear it or say it or think it over and over and over. Another description of meditation is rumination. That’s what a cow does when it “chews the cud.” Cows have four stomachs. They eat their food and swallow it. Regurgitate it and chew it some more then swallow it into another stomach. Regurgitate it and chew it some more then swallow into another stomach. Regurgitate it and chew on it more then finally swallow it into the fourth stomach. It is simply a process of getting all the nutrition they can out of the food. The Psalmist is simply saying chew on the Word all day long. Start your day with God’s Word then chew on it, roll it over and over in your mind, find yourself saying or maybe singing a scripture chorus through the day.

The Bible says if I will do this “whatever I do will prosper.” In Deuteronomy 28 there is a list of the incredible blessings of God that come to us when we “faithfully obey the voice of the Lord” and are “careful to do all his commandments.” The Bible says if I will do that then the blessings will “come upon you and overtake you.” I won’t have to find them they will find me!

I heard once of a man who was an American Indian and had been converted. He described the old and the new nature this way, “There’s two dogs that live in me, one’s the old dog, he’s mean and vicious and hard and sinful. Then there’s the new dog who walks after Christ. He said they’re constantly fighting to have control of me. Which one wins? The one I feed the most, that’s which one wins.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, may the love for Your Word be a growing part of my life today and everyday. Help me to get it into my spirit so that I truly do think about and dwell upon and roll it over and over in my mind throughout the day. Help me above all others to develop this discipline in my life. AMEN.

Blessings!
Pastor Roger