In their article “Stringed Victory,” Richard Jerome and Elizabeth McNeil told the story of Joshua Bell, a child prodigy on the violin who was a world-class musician by the young age of 29. Joshua always endeavored to be his best—at computers, chess, even video games. He pushed himself to succeed. One day, while visiting his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, a small boy approached him. “You’re Joshua Bell,” he exclaimed. “You’re famous!” Joshua humbly responded, “Well … not really.” But the boy was insistent. “Yes, really … your name is on every video game in the arcade as the highest scorer!”
Different people define success in different ways. To create your life as the masterpiece you were created to be, you need a genuine definition for your success, and here’s the formula to remember:
Success
This is how I can state the title of this blog so boldly: Success equals living daily as the masterpiece God created you to be. Without a properly developed definition of success, you cannot know true masterpiece living in life. Your passions, desires, ambitions, and goals must all be aligned with living, not hindering you in achieving the destiny God has for you.
Prosper In All You Do
In the Bible, the Psalmist wrote about those who “delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” (Psalm 1:2-3) This verse provides a picture of what God desires for you as His masterpiece. His plan is that your life will always produce something of worth and value. His plan is that your life is lived like a tree with leaves that never die away, but always bloom and give life. His plan is that you will prosper in everything that you do. This prosperity is not a guarantee of health, wealth, and happiness, but it is an assurance that what God has in store for your life is good and fulfilling, the “rich and satisfying life” that Jesus said He came to give you in John 10:10. It’s the kind of life that will give you more vigor and enthusiasm for each day.
Yet what is the condition for having this kind of prosperous life? The Psalmist makes it clear: doing everything the Lord wants, achieved by constantly keeping in mind the directives of His Word. As you do this, you’ll be freed from living your life according to what pleases others; any plan other than God’s will hinder you from fulfilling His destiny He has for you as His masterpiece. Instead, you will think, feel, and act according to what pleases God.
Mark Your Calendars:
I will be speaking on this subject live this weekend (October 24th & 25th) and invite you to join me: www.alivechurch.com, Saturday at 5:00 p.m., Sunday at 9:30 or 11:00 a.m.
This blog post is adapted from the book Life Palette.