If you’re like most people, you’ve imagined what success would look like to you. Have you thought about what ridiculous success would look like though? That’s the kind of success where you wouldn’t have to worry about money if you had it. I’ve heard stories all of my life of people who were ridiculously successful and then gave it all up to go into ministry or to do something Jesus called them to. I read recently where musical artist Daddy Yankee became a Christian and walked away from his music career. He’s decided to use his platform to share the Gospel instead of the lyrics to his songs.
In Luke 5 Jesus was teaching people on the shore of Galilee while fishermen cleaned their nets. He asked one fisherman, Peter, if he could use his boat to teach from. After His message, Jesus asked Peter to go out a little deeper and then to let down his recently cleaned nets. Peter pushed back at first saying they had fished all night and caught nothing. However, having heard the message Jesus just taught, he agreed. Immediately there were so many fish in the nets that they signaled another boat to come help. The Bible says there were so many fish that both boats were filled to the point they were about to sink. Verse 11 says, ”After they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example]“ (AMP).
If you had the ridiculous success they had, could you walk away from it all to follow Him? What if you had just what you had now? Jesus doesn’t call everyone away from their jobs to follow Him, but He does ask you to be willing to give up everything to be His disciple. He asked Abraham to give up his only son. He asked the widow to give up the last of her oil. He also asked the rich, young ruler to give up everything, but he wasn’t willing to. It comes down to what do you value more: your success with earthly things or your relationship with Jesus. The question really exposes our heart when answered truthfully. More of us are like the rich young ruler than the widow. Ask God to help you give more of your life to Him and to value the relationship you have with Him more than your relationship with earthly things to the point where you’re willing to give up anything if He asked.
Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 