Current
circumstances that we face today are largely the results of past choices. It is
important to learn to make excellent choices now as this will result in reaping
excellent harvests later. Tonight we will learn to walk in two qualities of a
godly character --- excellence and integrity.
First
it is important to discuss the characteristics of a lazy person. The Bible
abounds with scriptures about being diligent in work. The lazy person, however,
always wants results but never is willing to do something. The lazy man always
wishes something would happen. He has wishbone, but no backbone! Lazy people
just go along with the crowd.
In the 2 Kings 5, Naaman, a leper
visits Elisha and is healed of leprosy. Naaman offered to give Elisha a gift,
but he refused. Now let’s pick up in verse 20:
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the
man of God, said, "Behold, my master spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not
receiving from his hands what he brought. But as the Lord lives, I will run
after him and get something from him." So Gehazi followed after Naaman.
When Naaman saw one running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet
him and said, "Is all well?" And he said, "All is well. My
master has sent me to say, 'There have just come to me from the hill country of
Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. I pray you, give them a
talent of silver and two changes of garments.'"
He Lied -- made the story up. Gehazi
then returned back to Elisha. Continuing in verse 25:
Gehazi went in to the house and stood
before his master. Elisa said, "Where have you been, Gehazi?" He
said, "Your servant went nowhere."
This was another lie to cover up the
first.
Elisha said to him, "Did not my
spirit go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a
time to accept money, garments, olive orchards, vineyards, sheep, oxen,
menservants, and maidservants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to
you and to your offspring forever. And Gehazi went from his presence a leper as
white as snow. (2 Kings 5: 20-22, 25-27)
Gehazi
was so greedy that he was willing to lie and try to con money from Naaman in
order to profit himself. As a result he received "the leprosy of
Naaman".
Let us examine some of the scriptures in Proverbs that speak of laziness:
The way of the sluggard is overgrown with thorns [it pricks, lacerates, and entangles him]. (Proverbs 15:19)
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise -- which, having no chief, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her supplies in the harvest. How long will you sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down and sleep -- so will your poverty come like a robber or one who travels [with slowly but surely approaching steps] and your want like an armed man [making you helpless]. (Proverbs 6:6-11)
The appetite of the sluggard craves and gets nothing. (Proverbs 13:4)
I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, behold, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles were covering its face, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I beheld and considered it well; I looked and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep -- so shall your poverty come as a robber, and your want as an armed man. (Proverbs 24:30-34)
In all labor there is profit, but idle talk leads only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)
Everything
that a lazy man tries to do will be difficult. His path will be "overgrown
with thorns" for a lazy man will "sleep" rather than
"gather supplies in the harvest." In other words, because a lazy man
wants to do nothing that produces fruit in his life, everything he tries to do
will be difficult. In addition lazy men will be poor -- "so will your
poverty come like a robber... and your want like an armed man [making you
helpless]." Lazy men do nothing fruitful with their time and therefore
they reap nothing fruitful.
According
to Merriam-Webster dictionary, mediocre means “of moderate or low quality,
value, ability or performance. Mediocre means average, moderate, or low in
quality; it is the status quo -- average. Although mediocrity is common in
society it is NOT applauded in heaven for God wants us to be people of
excellence.
Mediocre
people go with the flow floating downstream with all the other do-nothing. In
fact, most people in society today are mediocre. We do not serve an average
God. God is an excellent God.
The results of mediocrity may be clearly seen from the scriptures:
I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth! (Revelation 3:15-16)
Wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it. (Matthew 7:13)
Mediocrity
and messes go together! Mediocre people will never be satisfied, never really
happy, never fulfilled, and will always be looking for something better.
You
will never get beyond an average, medium, mediocre range of impact that you
could have for God. You will never be what you could have been, should have
been, or would have been if you choose to be mediocre. Mediocre people live
mediocre lives. In everything they do they just barely get by. Everything is
just barely enough. Mediocre people never live lives of abundance, prosperity,
and fulfillment.
We
have an excellent God and we are called to be excellent and in God's image.
Excellence must be seen in every aspect of our life. To be excellent is to take
what you have and do the best you have with it. God goes the extra mile.
As an example of godly excellence, let
us examine the life of Daniel:
The [Babylonian] king told Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring in some of the children of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility -- youths without blemish, well-favored in appearance and skillful in all wisdom, discernment and understanding, apt in learning and knowledge, competent to stand and serve in the king's palace -- and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. And the king assigned for them a daily portion of his own rich and dainty food and of the wine which he drank. They were to be so educated and so nourished for three years that at the end of that time they might stand before the king. Among these were of the children of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar [the king's attendant], Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself by [eating his portion of] the kings rich and dainty food or by [drinking] the wine which he drank; therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might [be allowed] not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:3-8)
Daniel was determined in his heart to follow after
excellence. Daniel had a resolve that could not be broken by the world’s system
of mediocrity, not could be changed by the edict of the king himself. Daniel
knew who he was and to whom he belonged. Let us examine another scripture in
the life of Daniel.
It pleased [King] Darius [successor to Belshazzar] to set over the kingdom 120 satraps who should be [in charge] throughout all the kingdom, and over them three presidents -- of whom Daniel was one -- that these satraps might give account to them and that the king should have no loss or damage. Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and satraps sought to find occasion [to bring accusation] against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion or fault, for he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him. (Daniel 6:1 -14)
Other scriptures speak of excellence:
And as for you, brethren, do not become weary or lose heart in doing right [but continue in well-doing without weakening]. (2 Thessalonians 3:13)
An
excellent person does what is right all the time when nobody is looking because
they have the revelation that God sees everything. The excellent person knows
that God, who sees in secret, rewards us in the open and that everything that
is done in secret eventually comes out into the open. It is time for us to stop
doing just what we can get by with, but go the extra mile for our reward comes
from God.
The
only thing that stands between you and radical outrageous victory is doing what
you already know you should do. This is walking in excellence.
The results of excellence are obvious from the scriptures:
The Lord will not allow the [uncompromisingly] righteous to famish. (Proverbs 10:3)
If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God... The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouse and in all that you undertake. And He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. And all the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name [and in the presence of] the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. (Deuteronomy 28: 1, 7-12)
Verse
1 is a BIG “if” clause. You must "listen diligently to the voice of the
Lord your God," if you want blessings. However, the Lord has called us to
be a people of excellence and so this means that you must be a person of
excellence if you want to be blessed. However, the rewards are GREAT! Radical
blessings. Peace that passes understanding. Satisfaction. Joy. Overflowing
Prosperity. More than enough!
And,
one last verse:
The righteous man walks in his integrity; blessed (happy, fortunate, enviable) are his children. (Proverbs 20:7)