AIMING FOR EXCELENCE
09/02/2012
It is the time of year again; kids and their parents are gearing up for yet another hectic school year with mixed emotions. Parents may be relieved that summer vacation has finally ended so that they can get their kids out of their hair where as some kids may be dreading to go back to school. While some kids are eager to get on with further education and can hardly wait again to get back onto the “honor’s list,” some might carry a “who cares” kind of an attitude and yet others might be quitting in their hearts before they even began, thinking what is the point in all of this hard work; why should I study in the first place?
Does it really matter whether you study or not and get a good education? Well if you ask any sensible person they would tell you the benefits of getting a degree and the draw backs of not getting one. From my personal experience I can tell you that getting a higher education will be beneficial in the long run. Not only will you get a better paying job but also if you are a committed Christian God can place you in a place of greater influence.
Does God care about education? What does the Bible say about learning? Does God expect excellence from his children? What examples of excellence do we find in the Bible? How about those who are not highly educated can they be still used by God? To begin with let’s look at the word “excellence.” It means the fact or state of excelling, superiority, eminence, to surpass others, to be superior in some area or other, and to do something extremely well. For example, Michelangelo the Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. He was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and ever since then he has been held to be one of the greatest artists of all time. His work can not be compared with any others.
But there is some one who is Par excellence! which means “beyond comparison” that is God Himself who challenges us with these words, “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? says the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:25) Our God is beyond all comparison and comprehension, since we belong to Him he expects his children to aim for excellence. Let me share three biblical stories of those who aimed for excellence.
The first story is about Moses. What comes to your mind when you think of Moses? Do you see him as an old man who was reluctant to obey God’s orders and gave lame excuses saying, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servenat? I am slow of speech and tongue.”(Ex 4:10) But was he really dumb? No! He was anything but dumb, the scriptures tell us from his birth onwards he was an extraordinary person.
In Acts 7:22, we read, “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” I am sure all that education later on helped him to lead nearly half a million people from a land of slavery to a land flowing with milk and honey. How about Joseph a young Hebrew slave who excelled in his character more than his brothers, rose in ranks of responsibility both in a palace and a prison and eventually became one of the top most officials of Egypt.
Then there was King Solomon who asked for wisdom more than earthly riches. He was one of the wisest kings that ever lived in Israel. He was a scholar, biologist, zoologist, poet and a philosopher. He spoke 3,000 proverbs and wrote1005 songs. In 2 Chro 9:22-23 we read, “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.”
In the book of Proverbs Solomon gives sound advice on learning. Listen to his advice. “I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching when I was a boy in my father’s house still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme therefore get wisdom.”(Prov 4: 2-5)
The interesting insight here is that learning flows from connectedness. God has designed for some of the most significant learning to take place in the earliest years of a child. The time you spend playing, talking, walking, feeding or reading with your child is not wasted. It is an opportunity to teach and build a love of learning in your child. We have entered a new era of high definition digital world; though there are many benefits to this, as Christian parents we also have to be aware of the hidden dangers in these developments. As parents we don’t want to be so virtually engrossed that we neglect the emotional need for real life connectedness in our children. Also we want to be wise as parents to set boundaries for the amount of screen time or texting time we allow our children to engage in.
The third story is about four Hebrew boys who excelled beyond their contemporaries in a God forsaken country. I am talking about Daniel and three of his friends. This story is found in Daniel chapter one. The king of Babylon invaded Judah and took some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility, young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed(educated), quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. They were to learn the language and literature of the Babylonians and to be trained for three years. In other words they were to go to school in Babylon.
That was not a problem for them any way because they were smart and have the aptitude to learn, but the real problem was the food, they were required to eat the meat that was not fit according to their ceremonial laws. What did they do? Did they simply comply? No! Daniel, perhaps the wisest and the oldest of the four resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. God rewarded that resolve by granting him favor with the chief official. Upon Daniel’s request they were only given vegetables and water to drink for ten days. When the time came for the official to test them; all the four young men looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. It is interesting to note that, “to these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.”(vs 17)
Now it was graduation time; what do you think? Did Daniel and his friends graduate after those three years of intense learning? You better believe it, they not only graduated but they did it with flying colors. When King Nebuchadnezzar talked with them, he found none equal to them; so they entered the king’s service. This is a true story of excellence and success.
There are three principles here that are applicable for all of us, especially for all those who are pursuing an education or a carrier. Firstly, like these Hebrew boys we belong to a royal family. The blood line of our King Jesus runs through our vines. The Bible says, we, are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” Don’t you ever forget to whom you belong! You don’t belong to the devil. You belong to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. In other words you are princes and princesses. Therefore don’t embarrass your royal heritage by stooping down to the enemy’s schemes and pressures, just like prince Harry who recently brought such disgrace to the British royal family by going all naked in Los Vegas. We are made of better stuff than that.
Secondly, don’t compromise when you are forced by circumstances and situations that pressure you to act or react contrary to what you were taught from the Bible by your parents and at Sunday school or youth group. Don’t give into peer pressure to throw away your values and don’t give up your faith. Thirdly remember that God has a purpose for you in letting you go through all the learning and training at school. He wants you to enter into His service, whatever shape or form that may take. Who knows one day you may become the next president of the USA or some other powerful person of influence. Can you imagine what godly influence those four God fearing Hebrew boys may have brought in Babylon?
It is always a good to have righteous people in places of influence and power. God would use them for His purpose. When I was in India there was a Christian police officer named Mr. Sen. He was a sincere, hardworking and a man of integrity. In 2004 he became the District General of Police for an entire state of South India. Whenever he came to our Church on Sundays two rows were kept vacant for his security guards, some of them were Hindus and Muslims. They had no other option but to sit through the entire service listening to the worship songs and the message. It is ironic the way God chooses to make his name known in the world. Therefore dear friends don’t despise education, don’t quit, and work hard at it in the end it will you will have no regrets.
Lastly, we read that Jesus grew in wisdom, and stature, and in favor with God and men. At age twelve he could take on the intellectuals of his day in a debate. Jesus had a perfectly balanced approach to life and learning. He excelled in all four dimensions of life such as spiritual, physical, and intellectual and social. What this tells us is that life is not only about education, or only about spirituality, we also need to learn in the area of right relationships and that of course starts with our families which will help us build other good relationships later on.
Also we need to take care of our bodies, it is OK to play sports and have some fun. Listening to these highly intellectual and over achieving examples, those of us who are perhaps neither intellectual nor highly educated may wonder; saying, is there a place for me in this highly competitive world? Can God use me for his service? Of course there is a place for you in the world and God’s Kingdom. He longs to use you as much as any one else whose hearts are totally committed to Him. Think about the disciples, they were unschooled fishermen but when they followed Jesus leaving everything behind they became a power house. They shook the earth by the power of the gospel.
In Acts 17:6, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” In another incident this was what the Pharisees and the teachers of the law have said of them. “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13, (New American Standard Bible)
Let me close, with these thoughts. The God we serve is a God of excellence. He is beyond comparison. His desire for his children is that we too will walk in a path of excellence. Whatever we do we must do as if we are doing it unto the Lord. He wants us to be the head not the tail. Don’t settle for the second best but aim for excellence. Whether you are a high school, or college student, or a single mom, a hardworking individual, highly educated or uneducated, single, unmarried, married or divorced, it doesn’t really matter God has a plan for your life. His plan is to prosper you and give you hope and a bright future.
Proverbs 13:20 suggests, “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” So let’s choose our friends carefully. If you really want to become wise, then walk with Jesus daily in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! Amen.
