CHAPTER 13
MOTIVATION
Motivation is that which induces us to do what we do. Ask yourself the question, ‘Why do I get up each morning?’ The reason may be to feed your family, to make money, to attain more power, to grow the kingdom or to lead others to greater heights. Each of us needs a reason to continue, a reason to do what we do, otherwise there is no point in living. Even those who sit in front of a television set all day do it for a reason, perhaps to alleviate boredom or for entertainment or to keep up with the news. There needs to be purpose in our existence otherwise we are no more than vegetables.
Most people today are driven by the will to succeed, to attain fame and fortune. That is their primary motive. The secondary motive flowing out of the first would then probably be pride. Failure would be seen as more than a mishap but a blemish on one’s abilities and name. Is this what leadership is all about? To be richer, more important, more powerful than the next man?
Adam, under influence of Satan, aspired to be like God when he ate the fruit of ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. The consequences of which are still felt today.
The same thing happened at Babel.
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Gen. 11:3-4)
Humans wanting to be like God, tried to reach heaven, tried to attain godlike status. The consequences of their actions we see around us today in the many different languages and nationalities of the world which has resulted in so much enmity and conflict over the centuries.
All too often, man’s motivation has been his flesh and his ego and how to satisfy it, forgotten is the fact that we are body, soul and spirit. So many who have achieved worldly success find themselves disappointed, lacking an inner peace, they have not driven their spirit to reach the same heights as their flesh:
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Matt. 16:26)
Motivation need not only be something driven by the needs of the flesh or the emotions, but can be spiritually driven as well. In fact it would seem that the greatest success stories of the Bible show how much more success there is in chasing the spiritual as opposed to the fleshly. Abraham understood this concept and that is why he never neglected his spiritual life, in fact, he placed his spiritual life ahead of his flesh. Yes, he was a leader, par excellence, and yes, he was wealthy and powerful, yet through it all –
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
(Heb. 11:8-10)
Abraham knew that once the physical struggle to succeed was over, there would be more than just a cold grave in a foreign land, he knew that death was not the end, that there was more than just his good name at stake and this motivated him to look beyond his own gratification. God had given him a task to complete on earth – to start a new nation, and that nation needed a strong foundation of faith to build on, it needed a place of its own, and Abraham spent his life chasing that goal, but in the process he did not neglect his own soul. Abraham did not become who he became because of ambition and the desire to be successful at the cost of his soul, Abraham became successful because he went after the things of the soul, the more important things, and the success in the fleshly things were but blessings flowing from the things of the spirit.
Joshua had the same purpose, to see his people settled in the Promised Land, but he was not prepared to lose his soul to achieve that. He was prepared to humble himself to achieve the greater success that lay ahead. And because his motivation was other than just the flesh he was rewarded:
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
(Josh. 24:15)
There is a constant war on the go between flesh and spirit, a constant tugging. As humans we desire to satisfy the flesh:
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
(Gal. 5:17)
There are times when we feel the spirit getting in the way, obstructing our fleshly progress in the world, and we are tempted to cast aside the spiritual.
I can imagine, Abraham on his way to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command. His promised heir, what would happen if Isaac died, there would be no heir, no nation, no habitation of the Promised Land, but Abraham showed us, by his actions, what is most important, what our true motivation should be.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt. 22:37-40)
First comes God, serve Him with everything you have, and then comes the world. He is our motivation, from Him flows all blessings for mind, body and spirit.
God reminded Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, of this when the king allowed his pride to become his motivation.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, achieved greatness, his kingdom grew and Babylon became the jewel of the Middle East.
All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
(Dan. 4:28-30)
God had no place in the praises of the Babylonian king. Nebuchadnezzar had, in his own mind become his own motivation, Babylon existed because of him. His words, ‘I have built…’, ‘for my mighty power…’, ‘for the honour of my majesty…’ say it all. His motivation was himself, his power, his wealth, his glory, his status.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. (Dan. 4:33)
His own people drove him away. Those he deemed to rule threw him out. No matter how high you climb on the corporate ladder you are always subject to someone and your motivation needs to reflect this:
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
(Dan. 4:34-37)
Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten –
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
(Isa. 43:7)
We are here for God’s glory. He must be our motivation. When we allow the flesh to drive our motivation, to be our reason for doing, things can go horribly wrong as happened when Israel’s greatest king, David, allowed his flesh to get the better of him. David, the ‘man after God’s own heart’ let his desires get in the way. Seeing Bathsheba, David desired her, and murdered her husband Uriah to get her (2Samuel 11). This abuse of power led to the death of his new-born son. Again, later in life, David ordered a census to be carried out – displaying his need to know what he had achieved, how Israel had grown under his kingship – an action that was to cost thousands of lives (2Samuel 24).
When Solomon, the son of David, ascended the throne, God asked him what he most desired. He requested that he be granted wisdom above all else, and initially, he ruled well, motivated by the same vision of David, one kingdom under one God. Many came to visit him at his court and one, the queen of Sheba was very expansive in her compliments of his abilities:
And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
(1Ki 10:6-9)
It is nice to receive compliments and we are all tempted to seek out those who compliment us, but our motivation must not be for the compliment. Yes, we all want to hear that we have succeeded in this world, to know that we are doing the right thing and are headed in the right direction, but we must be wary not to seek compliments and acknowledgments in the wrong places. Solomon did just that. He sought approval from the wrong people and it was to cost Israel dearly. His focus on the bigger picture became blurred as he wallowed in the compliments of outsiders. The wisdom he so desired from God at the beginning of his reign became the source of pride and pride was to become his undoing, eventually leading to the downfall of the kingdom.
For those who, although tempted by life’s pleasures, keep focused, who are motivated by what is important –
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
(Jam. 1:12)
Paul, a man driven all his life, first as a persecutor of Christians, then as a church builder, a man who never lacked motivation to do what he did, whether for wrong or right, could say at the end of his life –
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2Tim. 4:8)
Let your motivation be to hear these wonderful words one day:
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matt.25:21)