Happy Monday! It is January 23, 2023. Today’s marketing strategies promise a product, college, or vitamin will move us toward wealth and success in life. But how does God define success? Once you find out His answer, what will you do with it? Read on …
Today's Reading:
Exodus 6,7,8; Luke 23
Scripture
“Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself’” (Luke 23:34-35)
Observation
We use different gauges for different evaluations — a speedometer for how fast an automobile can perform, a measuring tape for how tall, a thermometer for how hot, and an IQ test for how smart. Here, in Luke 23, we find a common gauge that man has used for “success” throughout the ages.
“He saved others!” the people cried. “Let’s see if He can save Himself!”
In today’s schools and colleges, we have been taught to gauge success by how well we can save ourselves. We measure how well we fare, how prominent, how financially independent, how secure, how protected we are … But Jesus didn’t come to save Himself. He came to save others!
Application
The world gauges success based on how well I can save myself, but God measures success by how well we can save others.
- Save them from foolish decisions by serving them with wisdom in advice and example
- Save them from their consequences through friendship and accountability
- Save them from sin by ushering one another to the throne and to the One who died for our sins
- Save them from forfeiting their potential by believing in them
Jesus did that and even revealed His intentions right out of the starting blocks when He stated, “I came not to be served, but to serve, and to give My life a ransom for many.”
God’s heroes are not always “successful.” Instead, they’ve given their lives away for a greater cause than saving their own. And God asks the same of us: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matt. 16:25).
Prayer
Thank You for such a healthy reminder and for recalibrating my heart again and again. Thank You for not letting me drift into becoming a “religious leader” but directing me to be a genuine follower of Christ.
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