Saved From Success 5-Day DevotionalSample

The cultural definition of success always involves money, even if we’re not brave enough to admit it. If you’re working at a job earning minimum wage, it doesn’t matter if you’re happy or living your calling; you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who’ll call you “successful.” Meanwhile, you could be the most miserable jerk with two legs and a mouth, but if you’re swimming in a pool of gold coins, you’ll find yourself envied among your peers.

Sadly, this particular cultural perspective has been adopted by not a few Christians. In churches that teach the prosperity gospel, pastors flaunt their wealth and fly around on private jets. They preach sermons about God wanting us to have the best and shun the rest. People in these church communities work themselves to death in pursuit of money because they believe that’s what God wants for them; however, when they attain the wealth they so desperately sought they soon recognize how bankrupt they still remain.

The Bible is alarmingly cautious about money. It isn’t even neutral. It claims that money is deceptive, and the pursuit of it is like running on a treadmill. . . .

The Bible urges us to be cautious of wealth and content with what we have. Can you imagine how different the world would be if this were true of us all? There would be no shoplifting. No one would lie about their co-worker to steal a promotion. People wouldn’t traumatically uproot their families and move halfway across the country for a 10 percent raise. And churches and charities wouldn’t have to beg for donations. . . .

The world will try to tell you that you need stuff to be successful. But don’t listen to them. It’s a lie that will land you in a life you never wanted. It will put you on a treadmill that will promise you progress but take you nowhere.