| “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night … then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8). |
| This is the only time the word “success” is found in our King James Version of the Bible. What does it mean here? It means more than simply success as this world might think about it, for it also means having wisdom and good judgment in what we do. Words in the Hebrew language often have multiple meanings. |
| Success can mean different things to different people. For many people, success is equated with getting plenty of money. I remember one of my classmates in university who said to us, “By the time I am middle-aged, I would like to have enough money to be able to buy a new house by paying cash for it.” Whether he reached this goal or not, I am not sure. But for him, success meant money. |
| Others have no interest in getting rich; they are motivated by other things. A man whom I knew well once applied for a job with a large insurance company, to sell insurance for them. After giving him a test to see how his thinking was about certain things, they said to him, “You would not be good at this job, for we can tell from this test that you are not interested in making money.” But that man wanted certain other things, and among them was his wish to have everything done his way. He got very upset if things were not done his way, and for this reason found it hard to work with others. |
| Still others want fame and recognition, while others want as much pleasure as possible. Others value power, and want to be able to “tell people what to do.” But God’s view of success is brought out in this verse; it is obeying the Word of God and paying full attention to what God says. If we do this, we might not have as much success in this world, but we will be rewarded in a coming day when we are with the Lord. That kind of success is really worthwhile! |
| This world measures success by something connected with this world, and which lasts only for this life. God measures success by how much we learn of Christ; this lasts for all eternity! |
