Life's Greatest Achievment

I often read about successful men and women and imagine what it would be like to walk in their shoes. Warren Buffet, T.Boone Pickens, Mark Cuban, and other wealthy entrepreneurs have always intrigued me and captured my attention. Hollywood stars have their own definition of success, usually a combination of fame and fortune (unfortunately, we have to listen to their political views once they get famous enough to gain the platform!).

I think the vast majority of people define success as becoming wealthy enough to be able to stop working and play for the rest of your life. Many people are under the delusion that if/when they become independently wealthy they will somehow magically be different (ex: I will give more money away when I have more to give). For the record, I believe that a person will be the same person he/she is now with 10 million dollars or next to nothing; how we handle what we have now is an indicator of how we would handle a sudden windfall.

The world’s definition of success is not the same as God's. He spells it out clearly in the Scriptures.

The greatest achievement in life is to know God personally, hear His voice, and walk in fellowship with Him. Sadly, many people live and die without ever experiencing Him this way. That is a real tragedy. To have an awakening, similar to the one where scales fell from Paul's eyes, is the start of meaningful achievement (see Acts Chapter 9) . Most often, this awakening comes through dire circumstances or events. This happened in my life. Though it was a difficult time, I am now thankful for the struggles I encountered in dealing with my past. How can I regret the vehicle that gave me a true knowledge of God? There's an old saying in recovery that goes like this, "We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it." I think I finally know what that means.

"This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23-24 (Emphases mine)