Success

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world. ... for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you."  Jeremiah 1:5,7b 

I've never said to myself, "Wouldn't it be great to be a press secretary or spokesman for a major political figure?" Honestly, what a terrible job! Everytime you stand up to speak, at least half of the people already hate you. Everyone is waiting to pounce on any poorly worded statement. Each word is dissected, twisted, misinterpreted, or taken out of context to fit the agenda of a particular reporter or editor. In addition to all the negativity, how would one even know if they were successful? It's just plain depressing. No wonder there's such a turnover in that job.

Welcome to Jeremiah's world. He was God's spokesman to a people who had no interest in what God had to say. Most of his preaching and prophesies were of God's looming judgment upon the people. For forty years, he served God faithfully and was rewarded with opposition, beatings, isolations and imprisonment. One might conclude that Jeremiah was a dismal failure, but that conclusion couldn't be more wrong. Temporary worldly success has absolutely nothing to do with eternal spiritual success. By remaining a faithful servant of God, Jeremiah was and is a super star in the Kingdom of God.  

Today, you and I may not find ourselves on the cover of any magazine. We might not be having anyone ask for our autogragh. We may be able to keep the balance of our bank accounts on our fingers and toes. No one may be looking to us for orders. BUT ... the faithful servant of Jesus lives before a great cloud of cheering witnesses in the heavenly realms. They are laying up for themselves treasures in heaven. They will enter into an eternal glory that outshines anything that this world has to offer. Now THAT is success.

Grace and Peace,

Tom Wiles
tom@fallcreekchristian.org

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tested

"He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." John 6:1-13 Test day. I remember all too well the feelings of discomfort connected to that expression from my school days. I was so thankful the last time I had to take one. Tests felt so much like a cruel game of, "Guess What I'm Thinking?" with the author of the test. During one particularly grueling test, I noticed one of my classmates cheating like there was no tomorrow. Predictably, he aced it and I let's just say, didn't. It occurred to me later that I was actually being tested in two different ways that day. By God's grace alone, I passed them both. Philip was in the hot seat that day. Jesus, out of the twelve disciples, decided to single him out for testing. From all appearances, there was a massive resource shortage. Five thousand men plus women and children all hungry up against whatever money Judas had in the money bag. Philip was apparently incredulous as he emphaticall
Read more

Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18 Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined." Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warri
Read more

Who is Jesus?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15, 16 NIV) What are your thoughts about Jesus? Every major religion on earth has an opinion on who he was. Mostly they say that he was a good man, a powerful teacher, and a peacemaker. All of that is true. But what about him being the Son of God? Peter, after being with Jesus non-stop for 4 years was confident of his identity. He was assured that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that was to come. You essentially have three options when it comes to what you believe about Jesus: 1) He was a Liar 2) He was a Lunatic (out of his mind) 3) Or that He was Lord If he was, and is, Lord, then he deserves our worship and our entire lives. If Jesus is Lord, it is true that we have access to God by His sacrifice on the cross. Join us Friday night at 7, as we reflect on Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the entire world (Good Frida
Read more