success

One of the stranger stories in European sports history is the story of a man named Yussif, the Terrible Turk.  Yussif was a 350-pound wrestling champion in Europe a couple of generations ago.  After he won the European championship, he sailed to America to wrestle an American wrestler, whose name was "Strangler Lewis".

"Strangler" was much smaller by comparison and weighed just over 200 pounds, but he had perfected a unique strangle-hold to defeat his opponents, which gained him his nick-name.  However, "Strangler" was no match for Yussif and was quickly defeated by his European counterpart. 

After winning the championship, the Turk demanded all five thousand dollars in gold.  After he wrapped the championship belt around his vast waist, he stuffed the gold into the belt and boarded the next ship back to Europe, the SS Bourgogne. 

Halfway across the Atlantic, a storm struck and the ship began to sink.  Yussif went over the side with his gold still strapped around his body.  The added weight was too much for the Turk and he sank like an anvil before they could get him into a lifeboat.  He was never seen again.

Maybe you're thinking, "What a fool!  He should have had a lot more sense than that!"  But, the truth of the matter is, we all tend to grasp the things of this world and hold on to them even while we're sinking.

Solomon made this observation:  "Then I returned and all I saw was meaningless vanity under the sun: There was a man all alone; he had neither a son nor a brother.  There was no end to his labors, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 'For whom am I toiling,' he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?'  This too is meaningless and a miserable business!" (Ecclesiastes 4:8)

Solomon describes a man, who, like so many today, doesn't know how to quit.  He can't slow down.  He's driven to succeed, to achieve, to accumulate.  He works harder and harder to become the successful person he so wants to be.  And never once does he pause long enough to ask the question, "Who am I doing this for?  Why do I feel compelled to run faster and faster in the rat race?"

Success promises a view from the top.  But, without God in the picture, success will drag you down just as it did for Yussif, the Terrible Turk.

"Better is a handful of quietness than both hands full of toil and chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 4:6)