Throughout most of my life, I have felt that it was more important to pursue Excellence than Success. To me, "Excellence" was God's best for my life, and "Success" was what the world deemed important. But, the book describes a godly success which is essentially the same as my definition of excellence. Also, in a way, the book's depiction of pursuing success is similar to my view of "excelling". I've talked about the sense of restlessness and slight discontent; but, I realize that people can feel this way when they think that they have not reached their goals of success.
The book reiterates what I recognize, that Success apart from God does not satisfy. And, people can define success in various ways: Power, Prosperity, Position & Prestige, and Pleasure. But, the book states that the Biblical measure of success is "obedience" based on:
"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:7-8)
The book even goes on to say that "Success is not a matter of money, power, and ego, but also issues of the heart......it's an issue of character....it's an issue of being the person God designed you to be..." And, it is God Who makes us significant. It is not what we do, it is what He has done for us.
The other interesting point brought up in the book was that we can find success through failures, which is similar to what I wrote in one entry about growing and learning through mistakes. This is the great attitude and mentality reflecting the promise that "God causes all things to work together for good."
It's neat how this chapter ties together my blog entries on Mistakes, Uneasiness, Contentment, Satisfaction, Balance or Mediocrity, and Character. Based on this chapter, I can have the perspective that I have excelled and succeeded, for I have sought to be obedient to God. I do love His Word and I seek to walk in His Ways. My Faith IS the primary "goal" that I have devoted my time and energy into, and is what I am passionate about and have pursued. As Ecclesiastes 12:13 says "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person."
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