Times Of Swaziland: HOW TO ACHIEVE ULTIMATE SUCCESS

HOW TO ACHIEVE ULTIMATE SUCCESS
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The Editor on 04/01/2018 00:25:00


Sir,
Turn on the TV and you’ll see all kinds of gurus telling you how to be
successful and fulfilled. You’ll see people dispensing advice on successful
relationships.
Proverbs 2 is a father’s appeal to a son; this father wants what’s best for
his son. The dad is Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. He wants his son to
be a success, but not in the way we usually think about it.
He wants his son to be a spiritual success. But Proverbs 2 is more than an
ancient sage appealing to his son. It’s God appealing to and instructing us.
God wants us to be spiritually successful.
So what does Solomon and God have to say to us about spiritual success?
“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you
seek it like silver and search for it as hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God,”
Proverbs 2:1-5.
First of all, spiritual success is conditional; it won’t happen automatically.
Notice how many times Solomon says ‘if’ before he gets to the ‘then’ –
if you receive my words; if you call out; if you seek it like silver then you
will understand.
We must pursue God whole-heartedly. If we pursue God through Bible intake,
prayer, fellowship, preaching and reading books, He promises to freely give
grace. Seeking God is like turning on a faucet; millions of gallons of water are
just waiting to quench our thirst, but we have to turn on the faucet. God has
bags and bags of grace stored up for us, but we must pursue him.
The fear of the Lord is not slavish, grovelling fear but a healthy knowledge of
God’s holiness. It’s knowing that God hates sin and will not be mocked if we
wilfully go on in it. I don’t go around all the time fearing that God will
suddenly strike me down with lightning. But I know that if I give in to certain
temptations, God will deal with it. He’s not mocked.
‘Find the knowledge of God’ doesn’t mean we merely get knowledge about
God; it means to know God personally. Jesus came to reveal the Father and bring
us to him. There is nothing sweeter than an intimate relationship with God
through Jesus. This is the ultimate success and this should be our ultimate goal
in life.
Jabulani Shongwe