We began yesterday looking at success. We learned the monumental importance of seeing success from God’s point of view. True success for those of us who are believers is to know and do the will of God. Apart from knowing His Word, we cannot know His will. Thus, we must be students, diligent students, of His Word.
Why look at success? How did we get here? If you recall, before the holidays began we were studying idol worship. We are going back for a short series on examples of what idols in America in 2010 might look like. One such idol we find prevalent today is success. In review, what is an idol? Idols are our modern, popular, and familiar objects of devotion. Idols have been around for thousands of years. Every one of us, even from birth, is prone to have idols. Our bent is to worship (give our primary allegiance to, seek our identity in, and invest our resources in) idols instead of God. Ken Sande says,
“An idol is something within creation that is inflated to function as God. All sorts of things are potential idols, depending only on our attitudes and actions toward them. Idolatry may not involve explicit denials of God’s existence or character. It may well come in the form of an over attachment to something that is itself perfectly good. An idol can be a physical object, a property, a person, an activity, a role, an institution, a hope, an image, and idea, a pleasure, a hero, anything that can substitute for God.”
It has been my experience that success can easily become an idol. If we go back to our definition, success can certainly become an object of devotion. It can occupy our time, our resources, our thoughts, our motives, even our worship. Wanting to succeed can begin as a worthwhile goal, however, when the success becomes the priority it carries with it the consequences of idol worship. Let’s look at one example in Scripture today. Read 2 Kings 5:1-16 carefully, thoroughly, and thoughtfully.
2 Kings 5:1-16(ESV)
1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothes. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” 8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
For today, let me leave you with a few questions. Tomorrow, we will seek to answer them more thoroughly.
Was Naaman a successful man? How do you know that? Did being successful change his attitude about himself? Who gave Naaman leprosy? Who healed Naaman of leprosy? Who truly gives and removes success in our lives? Meditate on these thoughts for today, and let’s explore them together tomorrow.
Humbly
Dennis
Posted on
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
by Dennis Newkirk