1 Kings 9:4-5
And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

When things are important to us, we tend to repeat them or talk about them often.  And what does God constantly reiterate to His people?  He repeats that same message over and over not to forsake Him, to obey His commands and follow His way, to have no other gods, to love Him and others.  So our dedication to Him matters.  Our faithfulness matters.  Our praise and worship matter.  He wants to receive those things from us, and He is worthy of them.

After Solomon builds the temple, God responds to his great prayer by telling him again the “secret of success,” which is really no secret since it is what He had been saying all along.  At the core of it, what God expects of us is simple to understand but sometimes difficult to do.  It’s about that whole-heart commitment, surrendering the old, leaving behind those things of the world to pursue something much better, and honoring God by doing as He says.

That’s how we truly succeed in life, which is a very different definition than the one the world offers.  But when we honor God, He blesses us.  When we seek His kingdom first, He gives us all we need.  And walking in His way produces those intangibles in our lives that flow from His Spirit working in us.  And then we can be fruitful for Him.  But how often are we willing to settle for something other than that fullness of life in our Lord?  How often do we know what we should do and fail to do it?  How often are we drawn astray?

Solomon himself started out so promising, but he would eventually be drawn away from God.  His vast wisdom did not spare him from that.  What it comes down to is our heart and the choices we make for or against God, because it is more often a series of small indiscretions, small excuses, small lapses that add up to a larger transgression.  We don’t need ten easy steps to find success in life.  All we have to do is follow the way that God has already given to us.  We believe in Him, we trust Him, and we obey Him.  And we’ll never regret dedicating our lives in service to Him.