Success: A Silent Thief

Happy Labor Day!  Why do many of us have a day off work today?    According to Wikipedia, Labor Day is a day “to honor and recognize…the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the United States.” 

Working hard is a hallmark of American culture.  Work hard and eventually success will follow.  Success for most Americans is defined in terms of wealth, position, and power.  

Recently I had the privilege of sitting around a table with two couples who are the epitome of America’s work ethic and success.  Both couples are entrepreneurs.  

As we discussed life, one of these entrepreneurs, Holli McCray Verdeaux made the following comment concerning success:  “Success is a silent thief.”   

What did she mean by that?  Success can slowly and silently rob you of what Jesus really meant “work” to be and what “success” is according to Him.

John, the beloved disciple, used the Greek word for work, ergon, over fifty times in the New Testament.    He begins using the Greek word, ergon, in John 4 and uses it for the last time in Revelation 22, the last book of the Bible.

In John 4:34, after sharing the Gospel with an outcast Samaritan woman, Jesus’ disciples urged Him to eat something.  His reply: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”   Jesus’ success, His fulfillment came from doing what His Father had put Him on the earth to do.

What has He put you on the earth to do?

            After feeding the 5,000, Jesus said, “Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.”  John 6:27   Jesus fed the 5000, but the goal was not for them to have “bread” but to know THE BREAD!

What are you working for?  If you are working for “success/wealth/power/position,” eventually it may rob you of the very purpose for which He has created you:  to do the will of the Father.

What is the will of God?  To abide in Him so that you may do what He does and go where He goes.  (John 15:5, Luke 10:27 and 19:10). 

In my 65 years of life I have had many jobs (server at a restaurant, assistant to a bookkeeper, transcriptionist, writer, speaker, content developer, and my favorite: wife and mom).  Every time I have focused on my earthly employer or the parts of my job that I despised or the monetary gains or lack of that I received, my happiness decreased.  However, when I remembered my joy came from abiding in Jesus, going where He went, and serving others, life was full and joy abundant.

Take some time today to ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Who do I really work for?

2. Is the world’s standard of success a thief in my life?

3. Am I abiding in Jesus and doing what He does and going where He goes?

What is His reward for doing the work He has created us to do?

As John, the beloved disciple, ends the book of Revelation he tells us what Jesus says about what we receive when we work for Him: "Behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Revelation 22:12-13

He is our reward! Choose His Success!