Day 85

Jan 24: 2 Samuel 8-13
God reminds us so many times throughout the bible how He is sovereign and He is in control. Chapter 8 goes over the countries that King David and the Israelites conquers, among them being the Philistines, the Moabites, and the Arameans. The part where God reminds us of his greatness comes in the last parts of verse 6 and 14 which say the exact same thing: "The Lord gave David victory wherever he went." It doesn't say David had victory wherever he went, it says the Lord gave it to him and that makes such a monumental difference for us Christians.
It's becoming natural for us to be too proud and boast about our accomplishments in our society. Success has been defined by materialistic gains and educational status and the whole mentality of this has been set in stone in this secular world. It's all about looking out for yourself and furthering your career to have that status and recognition by your peers and in all of this, God can easily be lost. We lose ourselves in our own personal endeavors and forget what Christ called us to do. If we become really wealthy through our own perserverance, what's left in the end if we use it for our own comfort and pleasure? I'm not saying it's sinful to have great careers and be making lots of money because God needs and calls these people to support his causes too. The more important thing I believe is the motivation and intent which drives us to that point.
To us Christians, success should be so much more than how much money and material things we possess. Someone who makes millions but does nothing for God's kingdom is not successful. People like Missionary Jonathon who I got to meet in Costa Rica, who lives off of supporters and probably doesn't have much money, but is living out the Great Commission, to me he is successful. I pray that our hearts would be motivated by Christ and that whatever we do in our careers and in our lives would be driven by God. Let's give Him control and let Him give us victory in the things He wishes us to pursue.