1 Chronicles 21: The Problem of Success

“Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” -1 Chronicles 21:1

David’s success was also David’s downfall. At the height of his kingdom, he chose to have every Israelite counted. Why? Not because of God’s command, but to evaluate his human accomplishments.

Yet God was the one who gave David his kingdom. David’s success was from God, not his own deeds. In the end, this desire to count and measure success in human terms brought judgment upon David’s family and the nation.

But before we point a finger at David’s sin, let’s look at our own heart. We can easily find ways in which we seek to measure God’s work in our lives to bring credit to ourselves. Such actions are both foolish and dangerous. Let’s learn from David’s mistake and leave the credit to God. He is the true source of our success.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.