Two Main Ingrediants to FAIL

If your aim in life is to fail, then this is a must read for you!

As I was reading a series of stories about Kings and princes in the books of first and second Kings, I saw how successful some kings were. They got to win battles and gain more golds and servants. But often times, Kings ended up being killed in battle, robbed, or being assassinated by their own sons or right hand men. These things happened in real life, some hundred years before the birth of Christ.

I realized that in order to fail, there are two things you must follow:

1. Believe in gods all around you, the god of war, the god of the rain, the god of light, the god of the tree, the god of money. They are greater than the Lord of Israel, the Lord of your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They may be merely made in the form of wood, porcelain or stone, and are dead, but what the heck, believe in whatever you want.

Several kings started worshiping other gods when they were in their position. They also encouraged their countrymen to do the same by building altars and poles on strategic places. King Ahab for example, was married to an Egyptian princess who encouraged him to worship Baal. He set up an altar for Baal and this provoked the real God to anger. Sooner or later, his life ended in a battle. This happened to several other kings. It’s really different if a king’s life “did right in the eyes of the Lord” because the Lord will be with him wherever he goes. So Step 1 is to believe in whatever you like (apart from the living God) in order to fail.

2. Take pride in yourself. This is for believers and nonbelievers alike. But for most kings who “did right in the eyes of the Lord”, this was their greatest downfall. King Amaziah, a king of Judah, was one of the few who did right in the eyes of the Lord. He took pride in the fact that he was able to defeat ten thousand Edomites in a single battle. This encouraged him to challenge the King of Israel who was greater in population and in battle prowess than him to a face to face battle (without the Lord’s consent). Because of this, he got abducted for a number of years.

Another king who did right was King Hezekiah. He was considered so faithful and righteous that this was encoded in the Bible: “There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses.” However he took pride when he boasted to the Babylonian king and showed all of the treasures in his kingdom. Because of this, God said “The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left.”

Although you may find success in whatever you do now, it does not ensure success all throughout your life. Count your treasures, your possessions, talents and achievements, show them off by saying “this is what I’ve accomplished.” You must do the exact opposite of what Peter said in 1 Peter 5:6 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. " You’ll find failure knocking your way and taking everything away from you. Try it!