{"id":44873,"date":"2025-02-16T12:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T12:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/?p=44873"},"modified":"2025-02-16T12:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T12:29:13","slug":"heavenly-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/blog\/heavenly-success.html","title":{"rendered":"Heavenly Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cFor the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 16:8b<\/strong><\/p>\n

This line comes at the conclusion of the parable of the Dishonest Steward.\u00a0 Jesus told this parable as a way of highlighting the fact that the \u201cchildren of the world<\/strong>\u201d are indeed successful in their manipulation of worldly things, whereas the \u201cchildren of light\u201d are not as shrewd when it comes to worldly things.\u00a0 So what does this tell us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It certainly does not tell us that we should enter into a worldly life striving to live by worldly standards and working toward worldly goals.\u00a0 In fact, by acknowledging this fact about the worldly, Jesus<\/a> is presenting us with a strong contrast as to how we should think and act.\u00a0 We are called to be the children of light.\u00a0 Therefore, we should not be surprised at all if we are not as successful in worldly things as others are who are immersed in the secular culture.<\/p>\n

This is especially true when we look at the numerous \u201csuccesses\u201d of those who are fully immersed in the world and the values of the world.\u00a0 Some are successful in obtaining great wealth, power or prestige by being shrewd in things of this age.\u00a0 We see this in pop culture especially.\u00a0 Take, for example, the entertainment industry.\u00a0 There are many who are quite successful and popular in the eyes of the world and we can tend to have a certain envy of them.\u00a0 Compare that to those who are filled with virtue, humility and goodness.\u00a0 We often find that they go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

So what should we do?\u00a0 We should use this parable to remind ourselves that all that matters, in the end, is what God thinks.\u00a0 How does God<\/a> see us and the effort we give in living a holy life?\u00a0 As children of the light<\/a>, we must work only for that which is eternal, not for that which is worldly and passing.\u00a0 God will provide for our worldly needs if we put our trust in Him.\u00a0 We may not become huge successes<\/a> in accord with worldly standards, but we will obtain greatness in regard to all that truly matters and all that is eternal.<\/p>\n

Reflect, today, upon your priorities in life.\u00a0 Are you focused on building up riches that are eternal?\u00a0 Or do you continually find yourself caught up in the manipulations and shrewdness that has as a goal only worldly success?\u00a0 Strive for that which is eternal and you will be eternally grateful.<\/p>\n

Lord, help me to keep my eyes on Heaven.\u00a0 Help me to be one who is wise in the ways of grace, mercy and goodness.\u00a0 When I am tempted to live only for this world, help me to see what is of true value and stay focused on that alone.\u00a0 Jesus, I trust in You.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18,238,596],"class_list":["post-44873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-children","tag-jesus","tag-success","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gloireadieu.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}