The god of power often
manifests in personal achievement—records we chase and accolades we receive.
And the gods of power give us convenient
ways to keep score: titles after our name, increase in wages, the square
footage of a new home, or some sort of public recognition. This recognition
seemed to be the motive behind the rich young ruler coming to Jesus as
described in Luke 18. He wanted commendation for how well he had lived. After
all, he was a man who had accomplished, achieved, and accumulated. He was the
very definition of worldly success. There
is nothing wrong with his success, unless those achievements were the
things he was living for.
The god of achievement
distracts us from following Jesus by reminding us with all the things that need
to be done. How often do we live with good intentions of spending time with
Jesus and turning our heart toward him only to find at the end of the day
that's the one thing on our checklist that we never got around to?
How has your life up to now
been defined by achievement?
Why do you work as hard as
you do?
When do you feel the most
guilty or self-critical?
Do you hate feeling
unproductive?
The best way to counter the
drive to achieve is simply to…"Be still, and know that I am God"
(Psalm 46:10). Stilling our bodies and focusing not on what we are doing or
need to do but on what God has done and is doing in our lives quiets that voice
within us that pushes us on. The check list will wait. The accolades aren't the
most important thing. Involving ourselves in the things of God is:
"So we fix our eyes not
on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what
is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:18
