Through The Bible in a Year - April 9, 2026
“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” – 1 Kings 12:14
David Brooks, New York Times columnist and former atheist, says why he now considers himself a Christian. Why? Because he believes our faith may have answers for the divisions in our nation.
He identifies five key lies that spark our divisions. The first: career success secures happiness. If you can just get to the top of the heap, you’ll be happy. If there are casualties along the way—principles, people—it won’t matter. As long as you get success, the losses will be justified. That’s the first lie.
Think of the cautionary tales that confirm the lie: Jeff Bezos, Martha Stewart, Britney Spears, Bill Cosby, Elvis. Huge success in every example, but also lots of evidence of lots of sadness. We are of course tempted to forget the sadness and believe that we will be an exception.
David Brooks himself achieved rock star status as a columnist—at the expense of a marriage and a wife. He says simply: “Success was not enough.”
Rehoboam, son of King Solomon the Wise, bought the lie. The people begged him to lighten their burden. Instead, he followed the advice of young leaders who said, “Show them you’re more powerful than your father. Make their yoke heavier and you will have more power and wealth than he.”
What did it cost? Resentment. Division. Isolation. Rehoboam got all the “stuff” he wanted, only to end up alone, abandoned and trying to fight his battles by himself.
If it’s all about “me,” then the God who wants to turn you to himself and the blessings of his grace can let you have what you want – but that means “me” is all you get. That’s the cautionary tale of all who make success their goal and their god in this life.
Respond: Where are you chasing success at the expense of others? What relationships are suffering because you’re climbing your ladder of self-glory or -gain? What principles are you compromising to get ahead? Today, ask: If you get it all with no one with you to enjoy it or wanting to draw close to you, will all you’ve gained really make you happy? Is being alone at the top where you want your life to lead? It’s not what the God of grace intends for you. He wants you, at the very least to have Him. The One who will never leave or forsake you.
Prayer: Lord, I confess I’m tempted to buy the lie that success will satisfy. That if I can just get enough—enough money, enough recognition, enough power—I’ll be happy. But Your gracious Word shows how those priorities are a path to isolation. Forgive me for the people (even the loved ones) I tend to ignore, or pass by, or forget, when I am climbing mountains of me. Help me to remember the One who valued relationships over achievements; the One who was willing to become nothing so that I would never really be alone. Thank you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.