A Success Story
All humans, men and women, fall in three categories, in relationship to being successful. Those who are successful, those who aren’t successful and those who are on their way to being successful. If we were to subdivide them even further we could mention those who are on their way to success and those who were successful at one time. I don’t care who you are, we all wish to be part of the successful bunch. We all want to be somebody. We all want to make it to the top of the heap. We all want to be the Top Dog. None of us wants to end up at the pound.
In the Bible we find both those who were successful and those who weren’t. For a very logical reason we tend to identify with the successful ones. We like to hear the success stories. We like the stories with a happy ending. We like fairy tales because, at the end, they get married and live happily ever-after. There is something about prosperity and in a life of success that appeals to our most inner self. Very frequently we hear and tell the stories of successful men and women as our illustrations.
We like the stories of David and Daniel more than the stories of Judas or Cain. And there is nothing wrong with that. We should strive for success. We should try to be more like the successful men and women of biblical times.
Society hammers into our brains the idea that success is to be measured with goods. The media claims that he who dies with the most toys wins. And we all want not only the best but the latest toys. We all want to win.
I think that Edwin Robinson’s poem is appropriate to this thought:
Richard Cory
Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,
we people on the pavement looked at him.
He was a gentleman from sole to crown:
Clean, favored and imperially slim.
He was always quietly arrayed
and he was always human when he talked
but still he fluttered pulses when he said: “Good morning.”
and he glittered when he walked.
He was rich, yes, richer than a king,
and admirably schooled in every grace.
In fine, we thought that he was everything
to make its wish that we were in his place,
so we worked and waited for the light
and went without the meat and cursed the bread.
And Richard Cory, one calmed summer night
went home and put a bullet through his head.
What is this story about? About the futility of life! Being rich doesn’t necessarily means being happy. Money certainly talks, but it doesn’t sing and dance… Money can by anything but it cannot buy happiness. Do you know what our problem is? The problem with our society is that we want to measure our success with what we have or with what we can buy.
You may disagree with me but I think that the story of Richard Cory sound a lot like the story of the rich fool.
The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, this is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger one, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.
But God said to him, you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?
Luke 12:16-20.
Doesn’t it sound like the story of Richard Cory? Get more and more, pile up, stock up: that seems to be the experience of each one of us. Because we tend to measure success in relation to what we accumulate.
We consider this to be so important that it doesn’t matter the field we’re successful in. As long as we are successful in one area, that qualifies us as experts in many others. Let me explain this.
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired a miracle pitcher back in 1980. He turned out to be so good that his name became a household item. He went on to win twelve games in a row. Fernandomania was born. After this you began to see Fernando Valenzuela’s face on every item you could think of. From coffee mugs to Corn Flakes boxes. What did he know about corn flakes? But the logic is if Valenzuela’s face is on the box it must be a better cereal. And believe me, East LA put aside huevos rancheros con chorizo for breakfast and started eating corn flakes for the first time.
Keep an eye on the tv screen and you’ll know what I mean.
Keeping an eye on the superfluous
I want to point out that being successful is not against God’s plans for each one of us. God wants us to be successful. God wants us to be among the victors. God wants us to reach our goals. If they fit with his plans…
And then you and me start looking more like Richard Cory. You and me start looking at the superfluous. We start looking at the nice things in life. We let ourselves to be tempted.
There hasn’t been a single person, including Jesus Christ our Lord, who hasn’t been tempted. And there hasn’t been a single person, excluding Jesus Christ, who hasn’t fallen into temptation.
Temptation can take many forms. It can be as shinny as a new car. It can be as impressive as a mansion. It can be as old and rusty as an antique. The bait is there. I want you to remember that the sin is not in the bait. The sin is in the bite.
You and me look at the outside and we let ourselves be tempted. The worst part of this is that often times we try to excuse ourselves: “You couldn’t possibly be talking about me… I’m just a student… I’m just a housewife… I’m just an hourly worker. I don’t see how this could have anything to do with me.”
I couldn’t agree more. The story of the rich man doesn’t have anything to do with you if you are the most selfless person that ever set foot on this planet. I would suggest you discount ET, Robocop, Batman, and the Terminator. Keep in mind that we are not talking about being rich. We are talking about considering the superfluous important in our lives, like the fact that we think we have to be rich and famous to be successful.
The story is told of the Greedy and the Miser. Both men were consumed by envy. The king knew of both men’s problems so he decided to try them and teach them a lesson.
He called them and told them that he had decided to reward them for their fine conduct and example to the citizens of his kingdom. There was a catch. He would give to one of them whatever he wanted. But he would give twice that amount to the other one. He would let them think about their price and who would be the first one to ask.
They spent a restless night. They were both consumed with the thought that the other person could get twice as much as he would. Towards down they came to an accord. the miser would ask first.
The miser ponder for the next few hours what to ask for. A house? The greedy would get two houses. A million dollars? The greedy would get two million. His was a great predicament.
The time finally arrived. The king asked them to come forward and to present their request. The king was surprised to notice that both men looked very contented. The greedy figured himself a very wealthy man while the miser simply smiled shily.
—Who is going to make the request?—asked the king.
—I will—answered the miser.
—What is your request?
—I want to have one of my eyes plucked out.
This way the greedy would get both eyes plucked out.
What are we then talking about? We are talking about our belief that we have to have something or be somebody either at work, at school or at church. We are not talking about money. Howard Hughes died, filthy rich, a miserable man in a hotel in Acapulco. John B. Rockefeller said: “I have made millions, but they couldn’t buy me happiness.”
We cannot claim to walk in the kingdom of God while we are so interested in the great things of this world. It is not a matter of being rich. It doesn’t have to do with being rich. It’s got to do with a selfish attitude. With always trying to be on top. It’s got to do with stepping on anything that stand on your way to accomplish your goals: people or principles, friends or co-workers. It’s got to do with setting yourself up for being the top dog regardless of the price.
Wrong again. I’m not that kind. I’m not like Bob and Carol, and Cathy and Pete. I’m not trying to be no top of the heap. It makes me sick just to see how they want to win regardless of anything. I just want to be left alone. I’m tired of their stupid games. When will they learn?
Herman Hesse said it better through Demian, in the book by the same name:
There were stories of sons who had gone astray,
stories I read with passsion.
These stories always pictured the homecoming
as such a relief and as something so extraordinary
that I felt convinced that this alone was the right,
the best, the sought-for thing.
Still, the part of the story
set among the evil and the lost
was more appealing by far, and—
if I could have admitted it—
at times I didn’s want the Prodigal Son
to repent and be found again.
But one didn’t think this,
much less say it out loud.
It was only present somehow as a premonition,
a possibility at the root of one’s consciousness.
When I pictured the devil to myslef
I could easily imagine him on the street below,
disguised or undisguised,
or at the country fair or in a bar,
but never at home with us…
My friend, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. This is also part of the same problem. When you and me look at the rest of them and consider them far from where we are, we are setting ourselves up. We are deceiving ourselves. Unless we let God be the judge, we are acting based on the superfluous and not that which really matters.
God works things to a good ending if we let him do his work. However, we tend to get so involved in the work of the lord that we forget the lord. The Lord places us in important places and we figure we deserve it. We figure we deserve it and we reached that place because of our smarts and hard work.
The moment we accepted Jesus as our saviour we became involved in his work. That very moment we enrolled in his service. Even before we knew him, he was working in our lives. He was opening doors and minds. He was placing you were you should have been. He did it all. Richard Cory and the rich fool forgot these basic principles. We shouldn’t keep God out of our daily life. God is the god of our every minute. Of our prayers and of our meals. Of our financial transactions and of our Bible study. We shouldn’t forget that.
The most important question you can ask yourself is related to Jesus. Have you accepted him as your saviour? Have you found the Lord? If you have invited him to dwell in your heart, what are you doing with him?
The Man Who Knew the Word
There once lived a man who had many earthly riches. He had everything anyone could want, but he was not happy. The man longed to own something of great value, something that no one else in the world had.
One day the man heard of a great teacher who was coming to town. It was rumored that this teacher knew how to heal the blind and perform miracles.
“Ah,” said the man, “if only I knew the magic word to heal the blind, I would be contented.”
So the next day the wealthy man went to see the great teacher. The man watched the teacher heal blindness and perform other miracles. Afterward he went up to see the great teacher.
“O Great Teacher,” he said, “all my life I have been searching for something of great value, something that is above all earthly goods. Now I have found it.”
The teacher looked at the man and said, “And what is that?”
“I wish only to know the magic word to heal the blind. For I will give all that I have to own that word. Just ask what you want in return, and I will give it to you.”
The great teacher thought for a moment, then said, “I will tell you the magic word, but I seek none of your earthly riches. All I ask is that you use the word to help others. If you don’t, you will lose the word, and a great misfortune will befall you.”
“Yes, yes,” said the man eagerly. “Of course!”
So the great teacher whispered the magic word into the wealthy man’s ear, and the man was content.
He ran all the way home, overjoyed at the word he had learned. But when he reached home, he was confronted by the Devil.
The Devil said to him, “Do you know the word to heal the blind, wealthy man?”
“Yes,” answered the man.
“I bet that word is the most priceless possession on earth.”
“Yes,” said the man. “It is of great value to me.”
“No, it isn’t,” laughed the Devil. It is a worthless word.”
“Why?” questioned the man.
“Because you have to tell others the word, and then the word will be of no use, of no value, anymore.”
The man thought for a minute and said, “You are right. The word I own will be worthless. I must keep it to myself. That way, the word won’t loose its value.”
“Yes,” cooed the Devil. “Keep the word.”
Then the Devil laughed and left the man.
Soon news spread around town that the wealthy man knew the word to heal the blind, and blind people came from everywhere to be healed.
But the man sent them away, saying, “I know the word to heal the blind. But this word is the most valuable thing in the world, and I can’t tell it to just anybody.”
One day, several months later, the man became ill. Many physicians were called, but none seemed to be able to help him, for they did not know what ailed him. But one of his servants reported that he had heard there was a man in a distant town who knew how to heal the sick, and the wealth man sent his servants to go find this healer.
Days later his servants arrived carrying a letter from this man who knew the word to heal the sick.
The sick man opened the letter and read it. It said,
Dear Sir,
I am filled with great sorrow concerning your sickness, but I am afraid I cannot help you. You see, my magic word is the most valuable possession I have. And for that reason, I cannot tell just anybody. I’m sure you understand, as I have heard that you too know a secret word to heal the blind.
Get well son.
The man who knows the word.
I ask you again. Have you called Jesus into your heart? Have you found the Lord? Do you know him? Are you sharing that beautiful knowledge with others? Are you sharing the kingdom of heaven with others? Are you sharing the word or are you keeping it to yourself?
The kingdom of heaven is upon us. What are you contemplating, Jesus Christ or the superfluous? Is the lord the first in your life?
