If you try to ask a class of students with this question, "Who wants to be successful?" You will not be surprised when more than 75 percent of them will raise their hands in agreement. More so, had it not for their religious background, the remaining less than 25 percent will also raise their hands in approval, and that will ultimately make the whole class agreed in perfect sync, unison, and total agreement 100 percent. All wanting for success.
If you further ask them why they want to be successful, these are the following obvious answers:
- When I am successful, I can have lots of money to buy everything I want.
- I can go to places I like and travel the world.
- I can be famous and well-known everywhere I go.
- I have power when I am successful.
But what about a rich druglord? What about a rich and famous entertainer committing suicide? What about a wealthy businessman having lots of mistresses? What about a powerful politician got involved in crimes? How about a well-known singer addicted to drugs?
Are they, indeed, successful?
In like manner, though now looking at a different perspective, it is almost impossible not to find a single book related to success in every family bookshelves and libraries all over the world. I'm quite pretty sure that even you, you who is currently reading this article, your bookshelves, if ever you have one, are replete with books that are, in one way or another, relating to success.
In fact, 99 percent of your books, digital or not, are somehow success related, whether they maybe informative or technical in nature. Why that big a percentage? Because, who in the world, in the first place, would ever spend money to buy books that will lead him to fail. Publishers will not even buy to that nor invest to such a project.
In consideration of the above, there seems to be something within us as human beings, that make us yearn for something and succeed.
By the way, let me further ask you a question. Is it an evil thing to yearn? If someone will give me a "yes" as an answer, and another one will give "no" for an answer, I will rate them both correct. Why? Because everything primarily depends on the heart of the person yearning. And such requires for another topic to be discussed in the future.
But for the purpose of this discussion, let us dig deeper as to why men yearn for success.
There are five (5) main reasons why men yearn to succeed:
Man yearns for success, firstly, because his primary mandate and purpose to dominate the earth require him to have the desire to fire up the drive within him in carrying out his assignment.
In the Genesis of the scripture it says, "And let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion... over all the earth..." - Gen. 1:26. In here, we see the desire of the Creator to create a human specie whose primary assignment was to dominate the earth. The Creator must have put in this man, Adam, the desire to yearn for a specific work or cause, for this man was created in God's image and likeness.
If the Creator yearns to create, man must be having this yearning, as well, as he performs his task to dominate.
By the way, to dominate means to have authority over, to govern, to rule, to control, to master, to manage, and to lead.
If Adam, who is our forefather, yearns for a specific task to express himself, we too must have within us this yearning for something specifically assigned to each one of us. It is now safe to say, then, that such desire is inherent to us. We want to be successful in our mission as the Creator, Himself was successful in creating men and of course, the universe.
The second major reason is that, man was inherently endowed with his own glory and honor. In the Book of Psalms it says, "For You have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:5.
Religious fanatics find it hard to accept the truth that we, as human beings, are endowed with glory and honor by the Creator, Himself. As a result, they keep on focusing on His glory which they pretend to know and understand. But how can they understand and know of His glory when they don't even have the necessary understanding of their own.
This glory which was translated in Hebrew as "kabod" means full nature, imprint, full weight. This glory will automatically pulls the man to yearn for something beneficial to express itself. And until that something is identified, pursued, and satisfied, men shall continue to dwell in a state of discontent and dissatisfaction. He might be content with what he has, but never with what he is. The yearning must be satisfied in order to exude his glory and further reveal his full weight.
The third reason is that, it is necessary for men to be successful. Since the beginning of the world's creation, the instruction of the Creator for Adam is clear. He said to him, "... replenish the earth, and subdue it..." - Gen. 1:28. To replenish means to supply what is lacking. Adam had to supply and provide names for each and every animals in the garden. This instruction for men to replenish is still enforced up to this time. It is always been men's work to replenish.
Men in all ages must be successful on their task to replenish the earth, to produce, to work, and to create, in order to fill or supply the lack of something in each generation.
Moreover, it is necessary for men to subdue the earth. To subdue means, to prevent something from existing or developing. There are lot of things that need to be prevented since the creation of men. Again, during the time of Adam, the orderliness that is exhibited in the garden of Eden must be maintained and managed, while disarray and disorderliness must be prevented from developing or existing.
Since that time up until now, the call for men never changed. Men ought to be successful in replenishing and subduing the earth, for such were the primary tasks that they must do.
The second to the last main reason why men yearn for success can still be traced in the same verse of the scripture in Gen. 1:28, which says, "... be fruitful and multiply..." Notice that the Creator did not say, "Be seedful!" What He clearly said is, "Be fruitful..." It is because man was created, up until now, with a lot of seeds in him. He is filled and endowed with a lot of gifts, talents, abilities, and unique potentials.
These treasures in men must be expressed into something beneficial for everyone in every generation. Men from every race and generation must heed the call into his spirit to produce and multiply, and be productive using his inherent potentials. He must be successful in doing so. His yearning for success is reinforced by the accountability that is required of him in its proper time, as what the scripture reminds us. In the Book of Romans, it says, "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God." - Rom. 14:12.
And lastly, it is inherent into man's spirit to love, and whether that love is divine or selfish in nature, love is really what motivates and gives him the necessary yearning for success. Saint Paul admonishes us when he said, "For the love of money is the root of all evil." - 1Tim 6:10. On the other hand, a Jewish Rabbi encourages us by saying, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." - Jn. 14:15. Both Paul and the Rabbi mention about love in contrasting terms.
Let me go further by saying that desiring or yearning in itself, is normal, inherent, and not evil. What makes it abnormal is when it is pursued with a wrong motivation, and directed with selfish intent.
I remember Yeshua when He said, "Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant..." - Matt. 20:26-27. See in here that the Rabbi did not prevent His students from desiring. He even told them how to achieve their yearning.
And the Book of Psalms also encourages us when the psalmist said, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." - Ps. 37:4.
Furthermore, don't budge with the religious leaders and fanatics, because for them, yearning is evil. They caution you to get away from it, but secretly, they crave the course towards it in pursuit of their selfish agenda... tsk tsk tsk.
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