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determination day after day, year
after year. They didn't quit. They
worked at it.
They continued
improving. They were not content
with mediocrity. They became
real "PROs"!
1 knew a boy who had the
talent
of a child prodigy on the piano at
age 6 or 7. But he tired of that,
turned lo blowing a trumpet, tired
of that, reac hed maturity unable to
do much of anything in any area.
Are the "great artists" specially
endowed with talent above others?
To sorne extent, yes.
But specially God-given?
Not necessarily, except by ordi–
nary hered ity . By natu ral heredity
sorne are t alented in one d irection,
sorne in others, while still ot hers
have at least not discovered any
special apt itudes at all.
All human talent was created by
God in the fact that H e created
man, a nd endowed man with
capacity to reproduce. Sorne, by
natural heredity, have certain apti–
tudes, sorne have others. Hered ity
does play a cer tain part in one's
success or fail ure in t his life. So
does e nvironment- by which 1
mean whatever externa! influences
are exer ted . Yet the biggest fac–
tors in determining success or fail–
ur e in life a r e MOTIVAT ION,
DETERMINATION, OR IVE, PERSE–
VERANCE.
1 have outlined the Seven Laws
of Success as ( 1) t he right goal; (2)
education and traini ng for that
goal; (3) good health; (4) drive,
self-propulsion , energy; (5) re–
sourcefulness-ability to
think
about what one is doing while one
is doing it, thinking one's way
through to solutio ns; (6) e n–
durance- stick-to-itiveness-never
giving up; and (7) last in order but
first in importance, the guidance
and help of God through Bible
understanding, prayer , abiding
fai th, yieldedness.
Of course the number-one goal,
above al! others, is to achieve eterna!
life in the Kingdom of God. While
most need an occupation to earn a
living-al least the man of the fami –
ly, yet the over-abiding goal must be
to be born of God. And, regardless of
subgoals, this supreme goal must
take precedence and no other must
impede or replace it. And this
supreme goal, also, mus t be
worked
at,
day in and day out, with pers is–
tence. One must GROw spiritually in
grace and the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior J esus Christ. One must
continually
overcome,
after com–
plete repentance and faith , and
receiving God's Holy Spirit.
What
ls
Your Delinition
ol
Success?
2
Picture yourself five years from now, doing exactly what you'd like to
do with your life. Could you. today, have taken pen and paper in hand
and written out what it is you'd like to accomplish or become?
lf you could you have jusi discovered one of the most importan!
secrets of success-that of setting out clear goals. You see.
real
success is not based on luck. Anyone can be successful-anyone, that
is, who is willing to apply a few
basic principies. Our booklet
The
Seven Laws of Success
explains
these vital keys.
To request your
free
copy, JUSI write to
the
Plain Truth
office nearest you or use
the handy literatura request card 1n lh•s
ISSue.
The Christian life requires the
same continuous, diligent, no-letup
effort that a g reat pianist, violinis t
or s inger mus t exert.
There is the easy road that leads
to failure, bu t the way to achieve–
ment, whether in a profession, or
entrance into eternal life in thc
Kingdom of Ood, is the hard , diffi–
cult, never-give-up way of persis–
tent, determined effort and self–
prodding.
Most professing Cbristians think
they had it al! made when they " re–
ceived Christ." Tbey had it no
more "made" than a great perform–
ing artist had it " made" into world
fame on first deciding, as a child , to
become proficient in bis or her
chosen profession.
But is it wor th the effo rt ?
Apparent ly most professing Chris–
tians have never come to see how
GREAT is suc h salvation and eternal
life! Sure, it 's a free gift. One can't
buy it. One can't earn it. The eter–
na] life is free-a free gift by God's
grace. Yet t he great God of LOVE
won' t give it to one in the pain,
anguish, sorrow , discon tent and
unhappiness produced by SIN. Sin
is t he transgression of God's law of
LOVE towa rd God a nd toward
neighbor. T o live above that trans–
g ression demands effort. Yes, a
PRICE has
lO
be paid.
God paid a price beyond descrip–
tion when He
gave
His only begot–
ten Son. J esus paid the SUPREME
penalty of death in your stead to
make possible that free gift. And
YOU have to _pay t he price of repen–
tance, fai t h, obedience, overcom–
ing, growing spiritually in knowl–
edge and !ove and obedience and
faith and endurance!
Jesus said, " He tha t endures
unto the end, the same shall be
saved ." Even though eternal life is
a free gift, a price had to be paid by
t he Giver. You may be saved by
grace, but you r reward shall be
according to your WORKS. In the
parables of t he talents and the
pounds, the one wbo did nothing
with what he had been GIVEN had
taken away from him even that
which had been GIVEN! That's why
God's Word tells us to work out
our own salvation with fear and
trembling.
o
The PLAIN TRUTH