The Pathway to Success
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.
Joshua 1:8
Do You Need It – Can You Get It?
There is both good news and bad news when it comes to the quest for success. The good news is that success is possible. Other people have succeeded, so why not you? Even better news is that you already have something inside of you that wants you to succeed. It is called “ambition.” That ambition has set the high hopes of you venturing out in life and fulfilling a dream. Yet, here is the greatest news of all: God wants you to be successful. Now, if God be for you, then who could possibly stand against you.
Here is where the bad news comes in. The bad news is that you live in a chaotic and ever changing world where success is constantly challenged. The dream of success can quickly turn into a nightmare. More bad news is that you have enemies and ill-fated circumstances that will threaten your success. Perhaps the most challenging news of all is that you also have something inside of you that will flare up when things go wrong. It is called discouragement. It is capable of producing a powerful inner voice that will tell you that success is too hard. Discouragement will do its best to convince you that giving up is easy and settling for less is your only option. This brief synopsis gives you an idea of what you will encounter as you enter the pathway to success.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was such a street or highway called success? The people seeking success could simply exit onto that street and cruise to their goals and ambitions in life. While there is no such street that promises you victory, there are some spiritual keys that will guarantee that your goals will be accomplished. Before I share those goals, we must understand clearly what accomplishments and goals the Bible speaks of versus those that are set by the world’s standards. While the world speaks of achievement in economic, social, or political terms, the Bible considers a person successful when they have gained a heart of wisdom. The Hebrew word for success actually means circumspect, intelligent, and having the ability to behave properly under any circumstance. The Scripture gives us a picture of one that is furnished with all that is needed to be effective in doing that which is right. This was the message that God spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun. The conversation took place about thirty five hundred years ago and yet it is as powerful today as it was then. Here is the question: do you want to be productive in life? While we must be cautious to acknowledge that God was speaking specifically to Joshua, it does not rule out the promise that God will also grant triumph to all who look to Him for direction.
The Lord’s Proposal, The Lord’s Path, and The Lord’s Promise
God Almighty chose Joshua for a specific mission at a specific time in history and to lead a particular group of people. Based on the conversation The Lord had with the young man, Joshua was afraid, he felt unqualified, and he certainly did not know the path that he should take. God spoke graciously to Joshua and gave him a proposal, a path, and a promise for success. This was the proposal: This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night. This was the path to success: that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein. This was the promise: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.
God was saying to Joshua what He also says to you and me, “take this Book of the Law and live by it.” It is a wonderful plan, that if followed, will lead anyone to success. Engineers and architects present drawings and design presentations in order to convince their clients that they have a plan for accomplishing construction projects. They will take the time to provide measurements, designs, and schematic plans so that their clients will have confidence that the proposal will work. The Bible is more than a Book of Inspiration; it is a Book of Instructions to live by. The person with faith is convinced that God is real, and that God is at work to perform His miraculous work in the lives of people. Our part is to accept God’s proposal by saying “yes” to His Will. At that point, we are entering the pathway that leads to success.
Thomas Edison attempted for years to raise capital for his invention of the electric light. He drew up plans and made numerous presentations, but investors saw it as too much of a risk. It was not until Mr. Edison made a proposal to J.P. Morgan that he could light up a street without using gas power. In 1884, Edison turned on the switch that ushered in the “age of electricity.” It all happened with a proposal. You have been given a proposal by God that He is both the Light of the World and the Light of your life.
In Joshua’s mind, he was now tasked with being a military general, a political leader, and national role model to the nation with no practical experience in any of those areas. He was to pick up where Moses had left off. Now that Moses, his mentor, was dead, Joshua was perplexed as to what to do next. But Joshua was not alone. The same God that led Moses was proposing to lead him to success. The Lord also gave Joshua a Pathway that he was to walk. This was the path to success: that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein.
Following that pathway involved four basic but powerful directives. First, there are rules that you must not ignore. Joshua was given a rule book. Life comes with operating instructions. Vehicles have an owner’s manual. Sports have a rule book that provides information on how to play the game correctly. Business organizations have operations manuals. Tools and equipment have an operations guide. These rules are not to spoil the fun but to demonstrate how to operate something safely and to enjoy the benefits of successful operation. Your life has a rule book called the Bible. You can attempt to operate without it, but you will soon find that either you will make many mistakes or become discouraged because there are too many life choices. So, my advice would be to accept the Rules of God and follow them faithfully.
The second directive to consider is there are boundaries that you must keep. In life, there are no written moral signs that say, “keep out,” but the Bible is filled with them. Psalm 1 is a great example of the “keep outs.” It warns us to keep out of the path of people who practice wrong doing. Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor do they stand with sinners, nor do they sit with scorners. But they delight in the Law of the Lord; and in His Law they meditate day and night. Those are healthy and helpful boundaries. Those very boundaries not only keep you out of trouble, but they also keep you on the right path to success. Godly boundaries serve as guard rails to keep you from veering off into dangerous and destructive living. Remember your boundaries, respect the warnings that say, “keep out,” and reflect on where you are going in life. You are headed towards success so don’t allow evil to hinder you.
Not only are there rules to follow and boundaries to keep, but there is another directive that believers must accept if they are to achieve success in life. There are challenges you must accept. Joshua is a classic example of someone who got past his fears with God’s strength and accepted the daunting challenge of leadership. Was he successful at it? Joshua not only succeeded in leading the young nation of Israel into the Promised Land, but he also succeeded spiritually by choosing to always follow God’s direction for his life. This is his testimony from Joshua 24:15, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As believers, we should never expect to get through life without challenges. Those threats and obstacles will be many, and they will be fierce at times. But you serve a God that is able and willing to direct your path and guide you to success. Please remember that successful living does not mean there will be no tears. Successful living does not mean there will be no pains. Successful living does mean that you will pray many prayers and be forced to trust God in perilous moments. Just remember this, your success is on the other side of that crisis and God is with you on this side of the crisis to help you.
The final directive applies to God’s promise. As Joshua accepted the challenge and went on to face the obstacles ahead, he also remembered God’s Word. Believers must always keep God’s Word in their heart. Joshua always kept God’s Word close. He knew the promise of God: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. God said that and God meant it. Keeping God’s promise near is like keeping a receipt or proof of purchase. In our case, when we keep the receipt, we can take it out and reflect on what we purchased, where we bought it, and the price paid. In the case of our spiritual receipt and spiritual promise, God is the One who paid the price for our success in life. Just keep the receipt in case you have any doubt. Keep the receipt when you get weary and faint hearted. God’s receipt is always good and will always insure that whatever He said will come to pass. You will succeed – you have the receipt to prove it.