The Ultimate Key To Success In Life

 By J.E. Nickerson

A few days ago while doing some lawn work, I took a photo of one of the trees in the backyard. The tree in this photo has weathered many storms, furious winds and torrential rains. In Psalm 1:1-3, King David, one of Israel’s greatest leaders and most prolific writers, described the person who trusts in God and delights in his word, as a tree planted by rivers. David goes on to say that this person will produce fruit in the proper season and will not wither or dry up. 

When I took the photo of this tree in the backyard, I began to think about how the tree in the photo had been able to weather so many storms over the years and not dry up or wither in dry seasons. Not only did the root system need to be strong enough to anchor the tree, but the tree required enough water and nutrients in order to be able to grow and maintain its strength. 

The words of David and the growth of the tree, presents us with a good object lesson for our daily life. We often grow in certain areas of life. For some it is their career, this includes expanding their ability to connect with others, promote their work and become more proficient in a skillset. Other people want to develop healthy and meaningful relationships in their life. While there are many resources that teach communication skills, business networking techniques and personal development methods that promise personal growth, there is another key to personal and professional growth that should not be overlooked. David said that the person who delights in the words of God will grow in every area of their life and bear fruit. To delight means to take great pleasure in something. It is more than just a casual interest or a habitual activity that we do in order to fulfill a requirement. In a relationship, when one person delights in the words of someone, it means that they want to hear what the other person is saying, because the words being spoken will deepen the relationship and improve communication skills. 

When we delight in the words of God written in the Bible, it means we view them as a connection between God and our life. It means that we view our interactions with God through prayer and devotional readings, as part of our relationship with him. This kind of interaction with God’s words requires trust on our part. It means that when we read the Bible, we believe that the things we read apply to our life. It means that we have faith that God keeps his word and is trustworthy. This kind of trust will anchor us to God and help us to receive spiritual and emotional strength or nutrients from the Bible. This is similar to the way in which the tree was anchored to the ground and received nutrients from the soil through its roots. 

Just as the tree in the photo must have had strong roots in order to withstand the storms that come through the area, we also must put down roots and stand firm in the hope and faith that God’s words apply to our life. When we anchor ourselves to the words of God and view them as specifically applicable to our lives, we will have the firm foundation we need in order to grow in life. Trusting in God’s words, speaking his blessings over our life and relying on the promises and admonishments of the Bible, is the ultimate key to success. If you want to prosper in life and you want your efforts to be fruitful and yield a positive result, I encourage you to delight in the words of God. God created us to have a relationship with him. This relationship touches every area of our life, just as the roots of a tree affects every part of the tree’s ability to bear fruit, grow and thrive in the midst of storms. If you want to grow in life and achieve your goals, perhaps it’s time to examine the health of your relationship with God and discover the benefits of delighting in his words.