What Think Ye? Failure

WHAT THINK YE? FAILURE

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.

Kyfingers@aol.com

TEXT:

Matthew 21:28 "BUT WHAT THINK YE? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, "SON, GO WORK TO DAY IN MY VINEYARD."

29. He answered and said, " I WILL NOT!" But afterward he REPENTED, and went.

30. And he came to the second son, and said likewise: and he answered and said, "I GO!" AND WENT NOT. Jesus ask, " Which of the two did the will of the Father?"

Esther 4:14 Who knows whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Today, I ponder what is success?

How do we measure success?

I then ponder: How does God measure success?

Perhaps to understand success, we need to ponder FAILURE:

WHAT IS FAILURE?

For sometime I have pondered these?

Wisdom seems to elude me?

WHAT THINK YE?

Maybe, why even think?

Those words seem to stick in my mind: WHAT THINK YE?

I find Jesus asking the same question...

Matthew 21:28 "BUT WHAT THINK YE? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, "SON, GO WORK TO DAY IN MY VINEYARD." (Imperative command.) 29. He answered and said, " I WILL NOT!" But afterward he REPENTED, and went. 30. And he came to the second son, and said likewise: ( Son, GO, WORK!) and he answered and said, "I GO!" AND WENT NOT. Jesus ask, " Which of the two did the will of the Father?"

I ask you is this a lesson in success/failure?

Who is the failure? Success?

Maybe stubbornness, rebellion, laziness, dishonesty, and a lack of fear/respect hindered success?

What think ye?

As I ponder, I see 3 questions, and I try to evaluate the importance for ministry?

1) Who said it?

2) What did they say?

3) How did they say it?

I think: who said it and how it was said are very important?

What think ye?

A friend of mine finally got her husband to go to church.

The preacher preached hard on HELL.

The man vowed never to go to church again.

About 20 years later, he went to church, the pastor preached on HELL.

The wife cried and said, "Why God?"

He went to the altar and was saved.

On the way home, she asked him, what was the difference?

He replied, the first man preached in anger and bitterness, like he wanted me to go to Hell.

The pastor tonight preached in love and many tears, he was broken and spilled out, I could tell he wanted no man to go to that terrible place.

Recently, while at the altar praying, I pondered why God called me?

I tried to count my wonderful traits.

I finally came to the conclusion, my best trait was I was at the altar!

Maybe 80% of success is just being there and never giving up!

Babe Ruth, the great home run hitter, struck out almost twice as many times as he hit home runs?

We call him a success?

Colonel Harlan Sanders was a very poor man at retirement, he had failed at all his undertakings.

At 62, he played around with spices and herbs and started cooking chicken. He accidentally (???) met John Y. Brown a millionaire, and today Harlan Sanders is known around the world for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

His project has employed thousands from feed mills to teenagers in a restaurant.

Yet, how do we measure success?

Colonel Sanders met an Assemblies of God preacher named Waymon Rodgers, and accepted Jesus as his Savior.

He gave thousands to that church.

In 1974, Harlan gave a million dollars to LMU, my alma mater.

What think ye?

Yet, money/budget becomes a very poor goal.

There was a widow lady that gave her "LAST" meal to the preacher running for his life.

This giving the last is pure foolishness to most? What think ye?

Could this one meal have been her purpose in life?

A little girl suggested that her boss go visit the preacher for healing.

Namaan is a known Bible character, but what was her name?

Was this her purpose?

Uncle Moredica asked niece, Esther...(Esther 4:14) Who knows whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

What think ye?

Some have never tasted failure?

They have never tried anything?

Is it better to try and fail than to have never accomplished anything?

What think ye?

Are we like Jonah, Jonah 4:6, that the comfort of the shade is better than getting in the dirt of life and teaching others?

What think ye?

Are clean hands a success?

Someday we will stand before the HIGH COURT, the lawyer Jesus, will have been promoted. He lays down the vestures of the lawyer and now wears a Judge’s robe.