Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)

The Key to Success

I'm reading through the Bible this year and the Old Testament readings this week are from the book of Second Chronicles. Second Chronicles chapter twenty-seven has only nine verses which cover the life of Jotham, King of Judah. Verse two says that Jotham " did right in the sight of the LORD."¹ and verse six says, "Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God." In the NIV it says, " Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God."² King Jotham " ordered his ways" and " walked steadfastly" in his relationship with God. The Hebrew word means to "stand up" and has a variety of applications. It can mean to "stand true", "do what is right", and "be firm".

Jotham set his heart on doing what is right. He remained faithful to the Lord. He did his best to stand firm for the Lord, and as a result he grew powerful. King David used this same Hebrew word when he wrote Psalm fifty-seven verse seven saying, " My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast."

These two kings had their faults but their heart was in the right place. They truly wanted to follow God and they determined in their heart and mind to do what is right and they did their best to follow God. As a result, God helped them to be successful.

God wants you to be successful. God wants you to become mighty and grow powerful. The key to success is not a secret, it's simply setting our heart on following God and doing our best in doing what is right. We may not be kings but we can live like the good kings of Judah who " walked steadfastly" before the Lord.

Keeping my eyes on Him,

Pastor Steve
June 3, 2011

¹ 2 Chronicles 27:2, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

² 2 Chronicles 27:2, THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived. One of Jesus' techniques was to relate spiritual ideas to common everyday life. Pensamientos (afterthought) is an attempt to follow Jesus' method of teaching. Its title is in Spanish because we recognize the importance of multi-culturalism. We hope to translate some of these messages into Spanish soon.

Find more afterthoughts at Pensamientos (afterthoughts).

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