We are still highlighting important
points concerning striving for excellence in our lives. To recap, the previous
points have been:
b. While striving for excellence, have a disposition that views excellence as a direction and not a final destination
This week we will go on to another
crucial point in striving for excellence.
c.
Striving for excellence for God’s people
should be done with a realization that we have a divine seed of
excellence
In the
previous post, I referred to Joseph and Daniel as examples of people of God who
had outstanding success in secular societies as a product of their commitment
to excellence. Another striking and instructive thing about Joseph and Daniel
was that they recognized that God had given them special abilities which they
leveraged on in their respective paths to greatness. Each of these men had an
understanding that there was some divine enablement they possessed. They had a
sense of the reality of supernatural resources that God had made available to
them. This was the springboard from which they launched their pursuits.
In fact, after
a while this was even evident to other people around them.
“So Pharaoh asked his officials, ‘Can we
find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?’”
Genesis 41:38 New Living Translation
“Then this Daniel was preferred above the
presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him…” Daniel 6:3
King James Version
King
Nebuchadnezzar spoke of Daniel as one who had “the spirits of the holy gods” (see Daniel 4:8, 18).
The King perhaps did not understand the character and personality of our
Almighty God so he could spoke within the context of the polytheistic beliefs
of the pagan culture in which he lived but he obviously recognized that there
was something unique about Daniel.
You may be
reading this and thinking “Wow, I would like to be like Joseph or Daniel”.
Well, I have great news for you if you are a believer in Christ Jesus: God has
placed His seed of excellence in every single person who is born again. God has
given you a unique superlative advantage. You have a divine seed of excellence.
“Since you have been born again-not of
perishable seed but of imperishable-through the living and enduring word of
God” 1st Peter 1:23 Holman Christian Standard Bible
1st
John 3:9 talks about God’s seed abiding in every one who is born of God. Think
about it for just a moment: God’s seed is in you! That must be something really
wonderful and life changing. It’s something akin to genes and DNA as we know in
our biological sciences. God has implanted His imperishable seed of divine life
in us. This is what I mean by God’s seed of excellence.
Ephesians
2:10, 1st Peter 2:9 and James 1:18 also describe believers in Christ
as people in whom God has chosen to display His excellence, wisdom and glory.
God would only be able do this if He provides the resources to help us
accomplish His purpose for us and this is exactly what He has done. God has
made supernatural resources available to us (as He did for Joseph and Daniel)
in His glorious grace so we really do not have an excuse.
“His divine power has given us everything
required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by
His own glory and goodness” 2nd Peter 1:3 Holman Christian Standard
Bible
As a
believer in Christ, you should know that there is something different about
you. The springboard from which you should reach for excellence is an
understanding that God has already placed His seed of excellence in you. You
have a divine enablement that should propel you in your pursuits in life. Go
ahead and give expression to God’s seed of excellence in you. I say to you just
as Paul wrote to the Corinthians and Thessalonians, “Go ahead and excel!”
To be continued…
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