For virtually all western people, at some point we are encouraged to emulate some form of what certain individuals call success, and fair enough because success helps you feel good about yourself which obviously is a good thing and it often brings benefits that enhance a life like positive kudos or financial gain, so most of us in some form hope to be successful, subjective as it is. 

For many, success revolved around achieving better or more than say, the average person, so the list entails virtually any pursuit available and let it be said, some people’s determined pursuit achieves exceptional result, sometimes assisted by some natural ability and sometimes blatant, dogged effort, the end result often being something we or others (like family or friends) are proud of. 

The irony is what some people think is extremely commendable, others think is a waste of time. Some people even think it’s success when you don’t seek success, which is a little strange, especially if they think it is a badge of success to do so, so the question is, is there any form of success we should aspire to, or doesn’t it really matter? 

As I mentioned earlier, success is subjective and often as we age our once rock-solid, immoveable opinion actually changes, as we all experience sooner or later.  In our time many of us appreciate the ability and skills of people involved in sports of some description, others exalt skilled musicians for their talent, then there is those who are exceptional actors, or writers, or politicians (ok, that’s debatable) or whatever, the list is virtually endless, but one thing for sure is that in some way in some form we all are connected.  Deep inside us we seem to have an awareness that being successful is good. 

This website has an important application when it comes to the subject of success, because we come to discover that there is an opinion that is superior to that of any individual, that determines for us, what is the ultimate achievement that can be attained by a person living on our planet. 

So, the facts that change everything are the facts (not opinions) that are connected to the fulfilment of prophecy that is recorded in the writings of the Bible, the simple fact is that the chances of fulfilment are in the realm of impossible, unless an eternal, divine, all-powerful being be a reality, prophecy fulfilment proves there is one God, the God who is responsible for the creation of all things, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the God who desires the absolute best for all who approach him in the manner that he has prescribed, the one that utilises the death of his beloved Son and the one that rejoices over the most incredible truth of this life, the fact that a lost mortal human can be infilled by the same Spirit that created all things  and the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.  As you could easily be thinking, that’s crazy, I fully concur, but it is true and in one respect that is all that actually matters.

Besides prophecy fulfilment proving there is an eternal being involved in the affairs of mankind, it also proves the Bible as God inspired (as is claimed in 1Timothy 3) a book that has connection to a wisdom that does not, and cannot, fail.  

Today we are surrounded by many issues that people are unsure as to which way they should lean and as a result we are witnessing an explosion of ideas that we are being bullied to embrace, which the Bible quite resolutely informs us that they are questionable, to say the least.

So how has all this happened and how have we got to this point in the so-called progress of mankind? Well, it goes back to the well-known but almost always ridiculed account in Genesis where man had the option placed before him as to how he wanted to live life, there was only 2 options offered.  Metaphorically speaking, the choice was quite simple, be a partaker of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil (note, not just evil) and basically do your own thing, or be a partaker of the tree of life where you are in communion with your creator, forever, oh I forgot to mention that there was a catch with being a partaker of the tree of Good and evil, quite a big catch actually, you shall SURELY die.

And today here we are, approximately only 6000 years since Adam and our whole planet is bickering over whether an issue is good or evil, people go to war for it, families get busted by it, people will lie and cheat for it and for all our efforts we surely die and our efforts for whatever we thought worthy will be forgotten, as will we.  It is exactly as Solomon said in the Book of Ecclesiastes, all is vanity and a vexation to our soul. 

Point for mentioning that, is not to depress anybody but rather to assist us to realise there are 2 types of success, and thankfully, one type is far superior to the other.  The Bible declares that a live dog is better than a dead lion and that sentiment applies when gaging true success.  As a person viewed by others, Jesus was what the world saw as successful, he was  concerned about wealth, but it was not financial wealth, he didn’t accumulate worldly assets as do many, but he did see it a treasure to uphold God’s standard, he gave us an example as to the possibilities of a man choosing to embrace the tree of life and it’s benefits, especially the benefit he experienced 3 days after his senseless death. 

So, back to success, having experienced life as just another person seeking the temporary benefits of trying to achieve self-satisfaction and also partaking of the dimension where God gives you his Spirit in a tangible form and as if that isn’t enough, God also commits himself to being a genuine, perfect friend that will never leave or forsake you, ever.  And this is true success, this is the success we were born to obtain and this the success we are Born Again to cherish.

Please don’t interpret what is written here as a rejection of the mastery necessary to achieve the honours of success in our world, in fact it most commendable to achieve those lofty goals and congratulations for doing so, but to obtain the success your creator wishes you to grasp, is even better.