Attuned to Prosperity

Am I speaking to someone today who feels that his life is being lived on too low a level? Does the position you occupy fail to satisfy you? Are you ambitious for something better than you have yet attained? Do you believe that there is a niche somewhere which will never be filled until you take possession of it? Are you chafing under your limitations, and longing for that larger opportunity which will enable you to express yourself in some more adequate way? Then permit me to say that the man who said `hitch your wagon to a star` knew something about both the philosophy and the psychology of life – and his advice is well worth taking to heart and putting into practice. For it is the man or woman who has some definite aim who will eventually rise above the common level. Do you know anything of an experience which would make it quite pertinent to say to you, `if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above`? If not – why not? When Jesus said to nicodemus that what he needed was a spiritual birth, he was really speaking with equal force to every other human being. And in stating that fact he was presenting the one supreme factor in al real success.

When a man has an aptitude for business, couple with a burning desire for great wealth, nine times out of ten such a man will amass a comfortable fortune, even though he may never reach the larger goal for which he strives. The same is true of any man, statesman, author, doctor, lawyer, preacher, artisan – or whatever he may be – who desires to travel just a little beyond the average, and keeps his eye on the path he wishes to pursue. Unswerving loyalty to an aim in life will get any man farther towards success than will riches for most men who have inherited them. If I am speaking to some man who is up against it and feeling as blue as he can be, is ready to throw up his hands in despair, permit me to remind you that while circumstances of birth, and sometimes misfortune, may check a man’s progress – many men, despite such hindrances, have mounted high on the ladder of what the world call real success.

A man once told me that some men owe the very grandeur of their lives to the tremendous difficulties which they have had to overcome. This causes me to say that you may be on your journey, keep your face towards the light while you trudge on to your goal. Even though at the end of the road you discover that the object your aim in life still lies beyond your reach, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have traveled farther than you would have done, had it been for that insatiate and impelling force that kept you toiling on to reach the top of the hill. It is my believe that every worthy ambition which has not been realized in this life will be realized in that still more wonderful life which lies just beyond the present order of things. It is foolish to talk as some have done about the key to success when every intelligent person ought to know that success is not under lock and key. It is something that can neither be patented nor copyrighted. Success has always been a matter of hard work, and it can never be anything else. Whatever shot cuts there may be in this world, there is none to success. Go over the list of really successful men today and you will not find an idler among the number. I believe that it is impossible to find a single man or woman who can be considered successful who has not worked long and hard and patiently. Get close enough to any musician who has become famous and you will discover that he began early, that he worked day and night to perfect himself in his art, that he never ceased working – and that while his admiring and applauding audiences are asleep after his performance, he is hard at work. Don’t fool yourself in thinking that there is a key to success and that all you have to do is to find the key and success will come your way with speed and ease. Success is not locked up. Anybody can reach it if he is willing and ready to work. Jesus says to each of us, ‘follow me, and I will make you.’ To follow is not to drift but to drive – not to dream but to do! No man ever became a success in his sleep! You must awake and get to work early and be willing to stay late if, at the end of the road, you are to hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant.’ Take your eyes off the clock and fix them on Christ and see what a difference it will make.