Key to Success, Wisdom, and Annointing
By Dennis Pollock
It is amazing to note the huge disparity among individuals. Some are enormously successful in their careers and are respected and applauded for their high level of skill and effectiveness. Others are mediocre, and some are complete failures. Some people have happy, relatively stress-free marriages, while others just barely tolerate each other. Some folks have more than enough money for their needs while others never have enough and face a never-ending battle with past-due bills and insufficient funds notices from their banks. Some folks regularly make smart, wise decisions when confronted with forks in the roads of their lives, while others have a depressing history of one poor decision after another. Obviously, we all prefer the success; we want the good life. But how do we obtain it?
The Bible gives us a key. Of course, the ultimate success in life is to become a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Once that happens, we are winners, regardless of how the rest of our lives turn out. But being saved, loving Jesus, reading the Bible, and attending church does not guarantee success in every area. Sadly, there are Christians who love the Savior but fail miserably in their jobs and careers. There are husbands and wives who have put their trust in Jesus, but still can't seem to get along with each other. We cannot merely assume that because we are Christians, success in every area of our lives is guaranteed. Nor should we disregard success or failure in this life, as though this is entirely irrelevant and unimportant. It is not necessary for God's children to look only to heaven for satisfaction and fulfillment. Our lives on earth will never be perfect and entirely trouble-free, but we can and should seek and obtain some measure of success in the tasks, careers, and ministries to which Christ calls us.
In this study I will share one key that can truly make a big difference in achieving our goals in this life. In Proverbs we read:
"He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed." (Proverbs 13:20)
Seek Out the Wise
God's word tells us that if we want wisdom, or success, or effectiveness, we should "walk with wise men" (and/or women). In other words, whatever you want in life, find some people who have the very thing you desire and hang out with them or work for them or read about them or in some way or another associate with them. After a while, the character traits and wisdom traits and success factors that made them what they became will rub off on you! You will often become very much like the people with whom you spend the most time. Hang out with wise people and you'll become wise. Hang out with successful people and you will become successful. And when you spend time with anointed men and women, it is very likely that their anointing will in some degree touch and empower your life.
This is why God has always made good use of the apprenticeship method of raising up men He used for great things. Moses was unquestionably one of the greatest men who ever lived. He heard God speaking to him the way we talk with and hear our friends. God used him to liberate a nation of millions of people, and to make His holy laws known to the world. But Moses was not going to live forever. Like every man, his days were numbered. And for this reason, during those incredible years that he led Israel through the desert, there was a man at his side constantly. This man's name was Joshua, and he served as Moses' assistant. Joshua watched carefully as Moses exercised leadership over millions of rather rebellious people. He experienced the presence of God along with Moses and even spent time in that mysterious tent with his boss, soaking in the presence of the Holy Spirit. When the time came for Moses to die, God told Moses:
Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that I may inaugurate him. (Deuteronomy 31:14)
Joshua's Turn
Now it was Joshua's turn to lead. All those years of serving Moses and doing exactly as his master told him were paying off. He had walked with a wise man and had himself become wise. He had walked with an anointed man and had himself been anointed. He had served an amazing leader and was now ready to become an amazing leader himself.
This is the way God works. It is the way He always works. Whether it was Elijah and Elisha, or Paul and Timothy, or Jesus and the disciples, when lesser people associate with the great, they themselves attain some degree of greatness. This works in a secular, business environment, and it works in the kingdom of God.
The people with whom you spend your time will leave their imprint upon you. And if you choose people who are unsuccessful, immoral, ungodly, and lazy, the same will be true. Proverbs says, "The companion of fools will be destroyed." We see this problem so often in the impoverished, inner cities of America. Gangs often attract young boys. They are introduced, at an early age, to drugs, alcohol, pornography, and violence. They are taken in by older boys and taught their ways. They become "companions of fools," to their own destruction.
Many people are enchanted with celebrities. They read everything they can about them, they watch YouTube videos about them, they watch their movies or attend their concerts, and keenly absorb nearly everything they say and do. In a sense they walk with them. But in most cases these people are not godly influences and exert a negative and destructive influence.
Wise Men of Church History
God has better role models for our world. Throughout the history of the church, He has equipped and used men and women to accomplish great works and touch many lives. Shortly after I came to Christ, I became almost obsessed with learning about some of these men and women. I devoured books about or by men like Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, and others. I thrilled to read of their amazing spiritual exploits for Christ. Once I spent around five days alone in my uncle's cabin in the woods, to seek the Lord. I took my Bible, of course, but I also brought along a huge biography of the great British evangelist George Whitefield. As I fasted and prayed in that little log cabin, I also drank in the incredible life story of this man who touched the English-speaking world in a way few ever have. I thrilled to read of his courage, his indefatigable zeal, and his single-mindedness in preaching Christ. During those days in that cabin, I walked with a wise man.
Years later God opened the doors for me to preach in evangelistic meetings in Africa. As I preached in mission after mission, year after year, the lessons I learned and the passion for souls I absorbed in walking with these amazing evangelists served me well. I never reached their level, but in my own small way I was able to become a sort of "miniature version" of the men and women who had so inspired me while in my twenties.
But greater than George Whitefield and D. L. Moody are the heroes found in the pages of the holy Bible. It would be wonderful if we could go back in time and see them in action, but of course we cannot do that. But we can "walk with them" in the pages of the Bible. We can walk with Moses as he confronts arrogant Pharaoh and works a one-man (plus God) deliverance of an entire nation of Hebrew slaves. We can journey with the apostle Paul and observe him heal the sick, convert huge numbers to Christ, and establish churches everywhere. We can spend time with King David as he slays Goliath, runs from Saul, and establishes Israel as a powerhouse in the Middle East. As we pour over the pages of the Scriptures we can walk with wise men, and we ourselves will become wise.
The Ultimate Wise Man
Best of all, we can walk with the wisest man that ever lived – not Solomon, but the Lord Jesus Christ. As we read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we can stand by His side as He teaches the multitudes, confronts the scribes and Pharisees, raises dead people, heals the lame, dies on the cross, and rises again. Every time we begin again to read one of the four gospels, we are walking with the supremely wise Man, the Man who was fully human and fully God.
The greatest attribute we can ever possess is faith. Faith in Jesus Christ opens doors, breaks the chains of bondage, equips us for ministry, and releases a flood of divine love and power in our hearts. As our confidence in Jesus increases, miracles of provision, divine boldness, and spiritual effectiveness are poured out in our lives. But we cannot have faith in Someone we do not know. No matter how hard we try to exercise faith in Jesus, if our knowledge of Him is minuscule, our faith will be minuscule as well. Our trust, our confidence, our faith in Jesus and our devotion to Him, is only in proportion to our knowledge of Him.
And so we read the Bible, but we must especially make a point to read the gospels and learn of the One who gave His life for us. Jesus' attitudes will become our attitudes, His convictions will become ours, and His insights will begin to govern the way we think and live and talk. We will walk with the supremely wise Man, and in turn we will become, in our own small way, wise.
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