Those who know God know that He is not a God of mediocrity but of excellence. Being the standard for measuring excellence, excellence is in His very nature. Consequently, what He produces according to the dispensation of time is nothing but excellent. Actually at any point in time, He produces excellence according to specific requirements. This is so because the definition of excellence is contingent on the frame of time of which one speaks. Such that what is excellent today may be only good tomorrow. For example since the Law came from the Lord, it was an excellent thing which He did. It was according to divine plan and therefore it was the best. But in the dispensation of grace the Law is not the best. It is actually to be discarded so that righteousness may be of faith (cf. Gal.3:23,24). The glory of today may be nothing tomorrow since tomorrow may present different requirements for excellence. This is why your life should be an unending pursuit of excellence.
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Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (James 1:16,17).
God is the best example of excellence. He never created anything with fault or error, but only that which is of Himself- the highest standard. Indeed when we talk of perfection, we talk of God; when we talk of beauty, we talk of God; when we talk of excellence, we talk of God. As such, He is also the source of every good and perfect gift. So firstly, we see that to pursue excellence outside of God (academic or otherwise) is a futile pursuit. And to strive for mastery (wealth, beauty, success) outside of God is to obtain a corruptible crown. For we even understand that in the end His aim is to present a glorious Church to Himself: not just any Church but a perfect one without spot or blemish.
…even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Eph 5:25).
This work is an ongoing work that is still being performed in the church today. In other words, God is still working to make the good better and the better, best. From one degree of glory to the next. From bearing fruit to bearing more fruit. Just like He did in the first chapters of Genesis, He is still working from evening to morning such that wherever there is evening darkness, He will bring into morning light. In this process every stage of work is seen as an excellent work even though the final stage of perfection is the aim. That is His work in the believer. From one degree of glory to the next. An upward and a forward motion. So today should be an improvement on yesterday’s glory. Just as a child is perfect as a child only in a certain time frame. There is a stage where it is not perfect for such an one to behave childishly. Today’s glory is excellent for today. Tomorrow must bring an increased glory. And looking back from today, yesterday’s glory can only be seen as good with today’s being better and tomorrow’s being best.
Unfortunately, many Christians are not aware of this truth. They have not yet known God as the Spirit of excellence that the Scriptures mention when it says that Daniel had an excellent Spirit. They are not really really aware that as Christians now, God dwells in them as an excellent Spirit looking to perform an excellent work in the world. When you tell them that their life is only upward and forward, they don’t believe it. They will rather confess their fear and say that ‘life is full of ups and downs.’ They cannot bring themselves to accept that the Christian’s marriage must only be for better and for best because the union of Christ and the Church is for better, for the best. They say that theirs
is for better and for worse because that is what they have known since childhood. To such I ask, why then is the Lord dwelling in you? Is He performing a work? If yes, then what manner of work is it? Isn’t it supposed to be from glory unto glory?
Christ in you, the hope of manifesting glory (Col 1:27).
Without this revelation of an excellent indwelling God looking to produce excellent works, many a Christian operates in mediocrity. They just want to make it to heaven. And they have been raised to believe that God is an average person who does not expect much. They believe they can give God anything and serve Him anyhow. Beloved, I want you to know that God is a perfectionist, and He is committed to bringing out your best in all things. I tell you the truth, when God says that He is at work in you both to will and to do of His own pleasure, He is talking about excellence. He is saying that He is the guarantee of your success. The pleasure of the Lord is and has always been to do the extraordinary, to go beyond the average. That is the truth.
Today, too many Christians are only seeking to be average, nothing better. They have chosen merely to be good enough even though they can be better. In fact they have settled for bronze when they can get the gold. They don’t like the extra work that is required to get the gold. They don’t even like to have silver; just give them the bronze and they are okay. They do not want to grow spiritually. They just want to be baby Christians. Even though the Bible shows the more excellent way that the righteous shall live by their faith, they have settled down in carnality and have chosen rather to live by their senses. By analogy, to live by the senses is to shut one’s eyes and walk as a blind man even though both eyes are functioning perfectly. It is unbelievers who are to live by their senses since they are spiritually blind. The believer has been called unto a higher life. So you see, beloved, do not settle for the life from which you were redeemed and made a new creation.
Many do not understand that to be a Christian in poverty is not good enough because even though God is rich, He became poor for our sakes so that we, through His poverty, are now born rich. They do not understand that to be a Christian who is not skilled in the word is not good enough since such is only a baby.
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil(Heb 5:13,14).
As a Christian, it must be your desire to grow and produce excellence. Mediocrity is the culture of the fallen world. You do not have to remain as you are forever. The whole of creation is groaning and wailing, waiting for the sons of God to salvage it from evil and the corruption of mediocrity. But this work will not be done by baby Christians. It will be done by the sons of God who have abandoned the mind of mediocrity and come of age through maturity to take their place of excellence.
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day(Pr 4:18)
This must be your mindset, this must be your goal. Let it be your driving force because that is essentially what God seeks to do in you. He wants to increase you, He wants to make you very great. In any area of your life that is not giving the required yield, don’t lose hope. He wants to prune you, to purge it so that you can produce maximum yield. He wants to make something out of your life. That is why you should refuse to give in to failure. Your life is a forward and upward motion. Look always to march on. To do better. To improve upon the way you do stuff. Look to maturing from glory to glory. Look to increasing in your giving. Look to increasing in your ministry in the church. Look to growing in your ability to bless others. Go for excellence. And remember that excellence is only what God, through you, has produced.
Do not remain at good. Do not remain at better. Go for gold. Go for the best for such is your God.
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