Success. How significant a word this is in our western civilization! Without being guilty of oversimplification we may say that success is the social, financial, political, and academic goal of the twentieth-century man. Nearly every man or woman in our society is relentlessly pursuing this goal. The thought is deeply embedded in the mind of modern man that his life is not worthwhile unless he is a success in his personal and professional life. This is confirmed by Webster's definition of success: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence. The attainment of these goals is modern man's measure of happiness. He dreams of being wealthy, enjoying the favor of men, and of being socially and professionally prominent. This explains at once why our Western society worships those men and women who are wealthy, popular, and prominent – they embody success.

My dear young friend, is this also your idea of success? Is this the success you are dreaming of and perhaps are already pursuing? If you are, you can hardly be blamed, for the society in which you are living encourages you in every possible way to think along these lines. It is almost impossible not to be caught up in this relentless pursuit – especially since even many within the confines of the church are caught up in this pursuit as well.

Fallen man pursues success with all the energy he can muster, for the attainment of wealth, favor, and eminence thoroughly agrees with the insatiable lust of his fallen nature, namely, the gratification of self. This makes the pursuit of worldly success so appealing to our flesh and to a young person stand­ing at the beginning of life's journey.

However, my dear young friend, is this the success you ought to pursue? Has God placed you in this world to invest all your energy in seeking after wealth, popularity, and prominence? Hopefully, your answer will be a resounding "no." Scripture's description of the goal of human existence differs radically from the aforementioned goal of our Western world. The Lord Jesus tells us that the highest goal of human existence is to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matt. 22:37). Therefore Scripture speaks in an entirely different manner about earthly riches, favor, and prominence:

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.Matthew 19:23-24

And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful.Mark 4:19

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurt­ful lusts, which drown men in destruc­tion and perdition.1 Timothy 6:9

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.James 5:1

Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.Revelation 3:17

These passages speak for themselves. This is clearly the reason why the Lord Jesus made this solemn declaration: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). Dear young friend, if you are pursuing worldly success, you are in danger of losing your soul. It is therefore of utmost importance for you to pay careful attention to God's definition of success given in the text placed above this article.

The circumstances under which God made this declaration to Joshua make it all the more remarkable. Joshua stood at the threshold of his career as Israel's general and leader, a position which could yield him wealth, favor, and prominence. However, when God gives him his "marching orders" in Joshua 1, He does not demand that as the leader of Jehovah's army he strive to be a spec­tacular general and secure a prominent place in the annals of history. Instead, God declares to Joshua that his way shall be prosperous and that he shall have good success if he observes to do all that is written in the book of the law. Dear young friend, that is God's definition of success: conformity in thought, word, and deed to His revealed will! If Joshua's success on the battlefield would have been spectacular from a human perspective, he would nevertheless have utterly failed in God's eyes if in so doing he had not observed to do what was written in the book of the law (the five books of Moses).

Therefore it logically follows that those who do not observe all that is written in the book of the law – God's revealed will, His Word – are failure in the sight of the God of heaven and earth. This is precisely what is con­veyed by the word "sinner" in Scripture, for God's Word defines a sinner as a person who fails to fulfil the purpose of his existence: to live in perfect conformity to the will of his Maker.

Thus those men who in the eyes of the world have achieved the very epitome of success – such as Donald Trump, Ted Turner, and Lee Laccoca – are utter failures in the sight of the Almighty. For all their wealth, fame, and prominence, they are men who do not observe that which is written in the book of the law. To them applies what we read in James 5:2: "Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten."

Young friend, do not be blinded by the apparent "success" of the darlings of our decadent Western world. Do not let these men be your role models. If you truly wish to have a role model, then turn to the pages of Scripture and church history. There you will find men and women who were monumental successes in the biblical sense. They observed all that is written in the book of the law. Their lives were adorned with the jewel of true holiness. They had a holy obsession to please God. Joshua was such a successful man. This is likewise true for Abraham, the friend of God; David, the man after God's own heart; Elijah who stood in the presence of God; Daniel who purposed in his heart not to defile himself with a portion of the king's meat; and Paul who exercised himself to have a conscience void of offense before God and men. This is equally true for the giants of church history such as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Owen, Brakel, and Edwards – men who, with Luther, could say that their conscience was captive to the Word of God!

This is but a small sampling of the innumerable multitude of men and women throughout the ages of human history who were made strangers and pilgrims in this world by the mighty grace of God. In their observance of all that is written in the book of the law, they were willing to be defamed, to be made as the filth of the world, and to be deemed as the offscouring of all things (1 Cor. 4:9-13). Their histories are the true success stories of human history!

And yet ... their lives would also have been failures if it were not for the preeminent success story of human history: the sacred history of the Person and work of Jesus Christ. He and He alone could truly say that He had observed all that was written in the book of the law. Yet, He who knew no sin, had to die the cursed death of one who had not observed to do all that was written in the book of the law. Christ's life, which was the ultimate success from God's perspective, ended in what appeared to be the pinnacle of failure – death on the accursed tree. However, it was precisely there that He cried out victoriously, "It is finished!" He who was without blemish, willingly endured as Substitute God's ultimate judgment upon failure (= disobedience to God's law), so that failures could be restored in God's favor and again answer to the purpose for which man had been created. His mediatorial work is the sole reason why God has a people in this world who in principle may be successful again, even though the holiest among them has but a small beginning of that obedience. They are a people who by the wondrous and successful operation of God's Spirit are made conformable to the image of this Mediator and whose deepest longing it is to be conformed to that image.

Young friend, conformity to the image of Christ is the real measure of success; nothing else is acceptable in God's sight who is only well-pleased with His Son. Is this the success you are pursuing? If you insist on pursuing worldly success, then it shall one day also be true for you, that which we read of the "successful" men of this world: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (Rev. 6:15-16).

May God grant, therefore, that by His grace you also may make the choice of Moses who chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (Heb. 11:25-26). Your feeble conformity to the image of Christ shall then earn you the wrath of the world and even worldly members of the church, but you shall gain the favor of God. By the ministry of God's Spirit you shall be privileged to discover the unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ, for Peter tells us that the blessed benefit of a godly life is that we "shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 1:8).

My dear young friend, may God grant you such a successful life. And therefore, heed the loving and sincere invitation of your Maker whose Name you bear on your forehead:

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.2 Corinthians 6:17-18