If You Want to be Successful, Start Here

If you want to have your most successful year, the first and most important thing you must do is to pursue wholehearted devotion to God.  2 Chronicles 16:19 “For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him.”  God promises special blessings and favor to the wholeheartedly devoted. 

There are four ways to pursue wholehearted devotion to God -- all of them essential. 

First, obey God.  Place yourself completely under the authority of God's word.  Joshua 1:7 “Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.” 

Pastor Robert Jeffress said, “God uses, favors, and rewards those who obey him. You would not continue to use a painter who did not obey you. An employer favors those employees who are obedient. A parent rewards children who are obedient. Why?  Because we are made in the image of a God who uses, favors, and rewards people who obey him.”

Second, seek God.  Don't just seek His blessing, His favor, or His help.  Seek Him -- an intimate friendship with Him.  Look at what the Bible says about King Uzziah.  2 Chronicles 26:4-5 “He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.”

Third, fear God.  Psalm 112:1-3 “1 Hallelujah! Happy is the person who fears the Lord, taking great delight in his commands. 2 His descendants will be powerful in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.”

The Puritan Thomas Watson wrote, “The fear of God is to have him always in our eye.  He who fears God imagines that whatever he is doing, God looks on, and as a judge, weighs all his actions. To fear God is to have such a holy awe of God upon our hearts that we dare not sin. The fear of God will make you forsake sins which can neither be heard nor seen by men.  The fear of God destroys the fear of man.”

Fourth, delight in God.  To delight in God is another way of saying "to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength."  Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.”

Do these four things and you will have the best year of your life.  I guarantee it.  You will experience God's favor and blessing like never before.

So what are you waiting for?  Make a commitment.  Go all in with God.  No more compromise.  No more holding back.  Make 2019 the year of wholehearted devotion to God.