I had spent the previous Sunday preaching that the knowledge of God is all you need for a godly life. The text for that sermon was from 1 Peter 2:1-4. Read it when you have time so you can get a doubling of this post’s blessings. And then, this morning I was having my quiet time, there it was, plain as the nose on my face. The foundation for good success is the book of the law. Wow! It almost caused me to laugh because while the sermon went very well, this was even clearer.
Not that I regret not preaching from the first chapter of Joshua because my sermon emphasis was different. However, it is evident that nothing could be clearer than the way God Himself declared this. Plain as day, the foundation for good success is to always have the book of the law in your mouth. Or to quote Joshua 1. 8, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth.
That right there is the foundation for good success, no ifs or buts. And if you are a new Christian, you may not be clear about this book of the law to which we keep referring. The book of the law is the bible. In it, you find the righteous judgments of God and all His promises. It also contains His expectations of you and me if we want good success in life.
Practicing The Word Of God Is The Foundation For Success
And the pivotal expectation, that is, the foundation for good success is constant mediation on this book of the law. We shall have time later to consider why the bible speaks of good success instead of simply saying success. For now, we note that not only must you learn and meditate on the bible, you must also do it.
Don’t forget that the devil knows this same book of the Law like the palm of his hand. That is why he was able to try and tempt Jesus with verses from the bible. But he remains the chief of hell and for one reason only. He refuses to practice what the bible says, even though he even trembles at it. But he is missing the foundation for good success by refusing to put it into practice.
How about you and me? Perhaps you enjoy teaching the word of God and people receive blessings when you minister. They may even hail you as a great bible scholar but you are not seeing good success in your life. The reason for that dichotomy is in that verse in the first chapter of the book of Joshua. It is possible for one to teach the bible but not practice it.
We see an example with the Pharisees of Jesus’ time on earth. He complained in the 23rd chapter of the gospel of Matthew that “they say, and do not do.” But those who practice the bible injunctions truly know that to be the foundation for good success. So, for good success, you need to both study your bible and also practice what it says.
Is Bad Success Possible?
You read about the foundation to good success and you suspect we are practicing a form of tautology. But no, the bible, from where we took that phrase, is never guilty of saying the same thing twice. Therefore, when it tells us of good success, it means there is a bad type of success. And no doubt, that blows your mind because you always thought success was a good thing.
Yes and no, and no, we are not speaking from both sides of our mouths. I am sure you know people who are ‘successful’ from gambling activities. What bout gun runners or people traffickers. True, they may hob-nob with presidents and princes and look like celebrities. But, is that good success? Particularly when they end up in prison or take their own lives in prison suicide.
Those are but a few examples of bad success, the type I hope you never wish to have. It never ends well no matter how many years it seems to be going well. You have heard the saying that about how long it takes the truth to catch up with a lie. But catch up with it, it does and when that happens, the difference between good and bad success becomes obvious.
For you and I, we find the foundation for good success right in the word of God. As you can imagine, a mobster or a people trafficker is not taking instructions from the bible. Neither is the sexual predator who might end up in jail before committing suicide. And, as you can imagine, neither is the mail fraudster.
It Takes Time To Find The Foundation
Only those of us who know the foundation for good success go into the word of God. And then, we meditate on it and because we like what we see, we start to practice it. I say start to practice it because for most of us, the process is gradual and progress is slow. Not all of us will be like the Apostle Paul whose understanding hit him in a blinding flash.
But you can start today. Take the first step toward the foundation to good success by opening your bible, even in an app. Read a chapter before you close it and it does not matter which chapter you read. You see, the word of God tells you on every page how kind our God is and how much He loves us. Close the Bible and as you go on with your work, let the words you read fill your mind.
Meditation on the bible is like inspecting a house. You see the lovely superstructure but the infrastructure is underground. You have to take the time and effort needed to locate the foundation whether it is sound or not. Because it is not sound, the house, like bad success, may later crash. While you are meditating, ignore all social media notifications until you have completed that task.
As you do that on a daily basis, you are on the road to locating the foundation for good success. By nightfall each day, your meditation will pinpoint one or two things you need to change in your life. Please change them, even if the change is painful. And then watch God give you success, the good type not the bad type. Start today.
Maranatha!
