Have you ever been offered a service and the person who was to offer the service was sluggish and disorderly about it? Or
Have you ever attended a church service and something about the protocol unit or the worship team seemed to be off and lacked excellence?
I am sure you would feel thoroughly dissatisfied and in the case of the church service, you may never want to attend that church again.
Excellence is sought after by all and sundry. You can attest to the fact that the TV stations people watch, the radio stations people listen to, the blogs people read, the malls people visit, the Churches people attend, the schools people go to and so on posses high levels of excellence in their mode of operations.
Taking Nigeria as a case study, churches like the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Living Faith Church, House Of David, HICC, Eternity Network International (Koinonia), Dunamis International Gospel Centre and a host of others are exceptional for the excellence they exhibit.
Little wonder why they keep amassing thousands of worshippers every Sunday. No one wants to associate with any body, institution or organization that lacks excellence.
Nothing keeps a person, a business venture, an organization as much as excellence does. The relevance of any thing is maintained by excellence. It is very needful that we exhibit excellence as believers in all that we do.
How then can one become excellent?
From the life of Daniel and other scriptures I would show you how excellence in all ramifications of life can be attained.
1. Pursuing Understanding
"He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit." – Proverbs 17:27
Your possession of understanding is an engineering factor for excellence. Excellence as we see in Proverbs 17:27 is a characteristic of a man who has understanding.
It is not enough to have knowledge. Just possessing the knowledge about the use of a thing does not put you in the position to make good use of it except understanding is imparted into you.
Knowledge is futile and useless unless it is accompanied with understanding. The proper use of knowledge is actualized by the birthing of understanding and Proverbs clearly states that even though knowledge is good, excellence is birthed by understanding.
Seeing that excellence is a function of understanding, how can one gain understanding?
• Maintaining Fellowship With The Holy Spirit
One of the ministries of the person of the Holy Spirit is "teaching". Jesus in intimating His disciples on the job function and description of the Holy Spirit said;
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." – John 16:12-13
Jesus told His disciples that there are several things He would keep unrevealed due to their inability to comprehend and understand them.
He then introduced the Holy Spirit as the personality who would help the disciples grasp every understanding on the many things Jesus would want to tell them.
He, the Holy Spirit was going to guide them into all truth, helping them gain understanding of the knowledge they posses and the several other hidden things God would want to communicate to them.
If you seek to gain understanding that is superior to that which belongs to this world then you must maintain a cordial relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit. Why?
The ministry and influence of the Holy Spirit is not given on a platter of gold. It would take you to attain intimacy with Him before you become a beneficiary of the goodies of His ministry.
Maintain fellowship with the Holy Spirit and see His personality, influence, and ministry at work in your life one of such is understanding.
• Read Books
"In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books..." – Daniel 9:2
Daniel was a man who possessed an excellent spirit (Daniel 6:3). The text above shows us one of the ways through which Daniel got his excellent spirit. He was an ardent reader of books.
If you desire understanding you must love books. I, personally can trace my understanding and growth in Christ to the books I have read.
Every month, I endeavour to read a minimum of three (3) Christian literatures and countless number of articles on various niches.
The lives of men and women who have exhibited or are exhibiting excellence are characterized by an ardent study of books. If you seek understanding, read books. Read christian literature, read books on general lifestyle, read books on business, read books on family life, just read!
2. Be a Keen Observer
To be excellent you must be a keen observer. Be very observant. Always take an in-depth look at the mode of operation of excellent people and groups.
Solomon said in Proverbs 6:6;
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:"
What Solomon was trying to say was "observe the ants, take a close look at their mode of operation and gain understanding and insight"
A man who is keen about observing is often reckoned with great excellence. Observers usually posses understanding and like I explained in the first point understanding makes room for excellence.
When the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon the things she saw made her confess that the things she was told were nothing compared to the things she was seeing (1 Kings 10:7).
The Queen of Sheba spoke on the excellence of King Solomon's court. She talked about the attendance of Solomon's ministers, the sitting of his servants, his cupbearer, his clothing, the food on his table, and the way he worshipped God (1 Kings 10:5)
All she was saying was how excellently Solomon operated. Solomon's excellence can be connected to the fact that he was a man who was keen about observing.
If you go through the writings of Solomon you would find a great deal of observation sessions he undertook.
By carefully observing the mode of conduct of excellent people you gain understanding of the system they implement to make them excellent..
3. Yielding to Prayers
Another point which I believe accounts for the excellence Daniel exhibited is his custom, routine, and frequency with prayers.
"Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did formerly." – Daniel 6:10
Daniel made a custom out of prayer. He operated the technology of prayers using a routine and a frequency. He prayed three (3) times each day and didn't break the flow even when a decree was signed against prayer to anyone except the king.
During prayer sessions, our nature is crucified allowing God's nature to become ours and one of the natures of God is excellence.
The more your prayers reflect His eternal will and interest, the more His nature is imparted into you.
Get in sync with the nature of God by yielding to prayers.
Excellence in whatever you do is a feasible reality as long as you are ready to undertake the steps just outlined.
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