The Ultimate Success Book

Back in the late 90’s I was working in Washington, D.C. first for a Senator then a Congressman. I was making so little that I was almost a volunteer. DC is an expensive place to live so I was in a house with not 1, not 2, but 9 other guys in order to save money!

The house was only 3 blocks from the Capitol and I walked to work every day. On evenings and weekends I enjoyed walking the city, especially the National Mall. The Mall in DC is the strip of land and parks that runs between the Capitol on the East to the Lincoln Memorial on the West with the towering Washington Monument in the center.

I’d start 3 blocks east of the Capitol and walk all the way to the Lincoln Memorial and back. That’s about a 6 mile round trip adventure, but there’s so much to look at that it didn’t feel so daunting.

I especially enjoyed the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool at night. There was just something so peaceful about the lack of tourists and seeing the monuments all lit up. I spent a lot of time in prayer during those walks. I’d pray about my future, about my next job, my future wife, and probably some complaining about how poor I was too. Ha!

Even in my early 20’s I was an avid reader of success books. I remember vividly one time praying about my future and hearing the Holy Spirit tell me (not an audible voice, but a still small voice inside) that the success books I was reading were good, but that all of the principles in those books came from the Bible…the best success book ever written.

In Joshua 1:8 it says

“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.”

What does this look like practically? I don’t think we’re supposed to quit our jobs, shut down our businesses and go sit in a corner with our legs crossed on a yoga mat and meditate all day.

It can be as simple as picking out a Bible verse that speaks to what you’re dealing with right now or that gives life to you and thinking about it and speaking it out loud or under your breath throughout the day.

When you hear something troubling….maybe some bad news on TV read your verse again. Instead of rehearsing over and over again in your mind the bad news you just heard which produces fear, go to the Word and rehearse that and you’ll feel faith start to rise up in you.

So continue reading success books, but don’t neglect the ultimate success book that will bring you true, lasting and good success.