2024 Fasting Devotional

Intoxication of Success

Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’

Hosea 14:3

In our culture, it is all too easy to become consumed with success. Society teaches us to strive to make the most money, to build the biggest houses, and to drive the fanciest cars. We measure success, not by the quality of a person’s character or the impact they make in the lives of others, not even by their piety and devotion to God. Instead, we measure success by the accumulation of material things. Sadly, this is a reality not only in the broader culture, but it is a reality in much of the church culture as well. We often, in great error, equate riches with blessings.

This constant striving for material wealth is unhealthy in its own right, but it also leads to a dangerous consequence—the elevation of the “blessing” over the One who makes the blessing possible. This pattern was seen often in the history of the nation of Israel. Israel, of course, was God’s chosen people. They had a special relationship with God and were instructed to worship God alone. But time after time, they turned their worship from the one true God and worshipped idols made of wood and stone.

To be sure, it is God who gives us the power to create wealth, but we should never worship the success that God has made possible. When we do this, we have, in effect, replaced the image of the one true God with the image of our own success.  This condition is often manifested in pride and arrogance, and we know that pride comes right before the moment we fall. 

It is a dangerous thing for us to get to a place where we worship the things we have made, rather than worshipping the God who made the universe.  Let us focus our worship exclusively on God our Father and watch our relationship with Him flourish into a loving harmony between our soul and His heart.