Orig. 11/5/02
7Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:7-8
What is success?
How would you define it?
Leadership expert John Maxwell defines it as, “Knowing your purpose in life, growing to your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.” Last year our freshman football team went 8-1 just one play away from perfect. Were we successful? It depends on how you define success. If success is defined as perfection then the answer would be a disappointing, “No.” If success is defined by the number of kids who return from that team to play next year, the answer would be, “Let’s see.” If your definition of success is having more wins than losses, or improvement upon the precious season, the answer would be a definite, “Yes.”
The problem with defining success is that it is a highly subjective term that relies upon the opinion of the person defining it.
A “successful” person may still be a passive coward who never walks in courage but has found a way to make some money. Success, however, is not money, power or control. Often times we erroneously claim personal success to protect our egocentric world. There must be a way in which a man can define success in an objective, universal manner.
In Joshua 1:7-8 we discover God’s definition of success. According to today’s passage God’s definition of “successful (8)” is contingent upon being “strong and courageous (7).” Courage is the missing link to being “prosperous and successful”. Any man who puts on the facade (or form) of success without acts of courage is a charlatan. True success must possess an element of courageous risk taking. If this were not true every man would be successful, every man would be a millionaire, every man would be a big hitter for Christ, and every man would serve, give and offer himself to the King.
But every man doesn’t.
It is much easier to hide behind a macho veneer. It is much easier to sit anonymously in the back of church. It is much easier to excuse away God’s Word. It is much easier than to “be careful to obey all the law (and) not turn from it to the right or to the left.” God desires that His men to “be successful wherever (they) go,” but this only happens if we “do not let (the) Book of the Law depart from your mouth (and) meditate on it day and night.” True success comes from living according to the word of God (Psalm 119: 9-11), which takes courage.
It is so easy to fall into the life of mediocrity clouded by human opinions, cultural philosophies and pop psychology that misinterpret biblical success. Be careful to steer clear of the fog of the secular man who has subjectively misinterpreted success. A man should be the leading authority of the Word in the home he leads. Biblical success is found in the man who courageously follows Christ because he voraciously feeds on the Word of God and is “careful to do everything written in it.”
