Success – A Biblical PerspectiveSample

Day 3 - What Will You Do With IT?

I Corinthians 3:11-15 - Roman 14:12 

From the parables that we discussed in our last session, we can deduce that God’s metric for measuring success could be defined as “performance versus opportunity” as in “to whom much is given more will be required.” ( Luke 12:48b) The Master was equally pleased with the performance of the 2 talent servant as with the 5 talent servant in the parable of the Talents. He was less pleased with a 5 fold return than a 10 fold return in the parable of the Minas.  

Notice that in all of these there is no comparison between the servants or with other servants but only with their individual performance versus their individual opportunity. 

Our scripture today deals with what we might call “an eternal performance review.” We are told that we build on our foundation of Christ with our “works” (I Corinthians 3:11-15) and that our works will be tested to determine their value. Some will be found to be worthless and burn up and others will pass the judgment and have great value even providing a reward. These works are what we discussed in our first study discussion of Ephesians 2:10, those that God prepared for us to “walk-in.” These “works” are His plan for success for us, simply doing what we are created to do in His Kingdom. 

Is it really possible that our Father is so intimately connected to us that He actually has a plan for our lives and that how we live makes a difference to Him? What do you think?