June 24, 2019 - Excel

It’s the off-season for basketball players… and tonight the NBA is giving out its annual awards for accomplishments during the season. It is exciting as a player to receive accolades for excelling. It is built in all of us to  like being acknowledged… I know the typical thing here would be to jump on that and the sin of pride; and I know that pride can be a destructive force when we are driven by the desire to be seen… but stick with me, desiring to be seen is not the same as excelling and being noticed. (Even God promises reward for those that excel… and it is really cool to be noticed by God!)


Even though I am interested in who wins the awards tonight, I am more intrigued by the videos that pop up in all the social networking of the day that show off-season athletes working on getting better and stronger! (I have loved seeing some recent posts of NBA player Zach Lavine and some of his summer workouts. The guy is like a human pogo stick and after watching his work ethic I see why.)


Simple truth this week… people that excel are those that put in the time. Whatever it is you have set your heart on, if you want to be a champion, you have to put in the work. And from the perspective of being a believer I think it is important to add here that we should do worthy work… (more on that in a minute.)


The Playbook (Scriptural mandate): Proverbs 24:13-14

My son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste; so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; if you have found it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not be cut off.


Here the son is being encouraged to go for the good stuff… and being reminded that knowledge of wisdom is the key… so what does that mean?


The words in the Hebrew have many applications… this seems like it is very straight forward in the English but in the Hebrew it really is an incredible life lesson. The word “wisdom” that is found here carries the idea of having an expertise in things… yes it involves shrewdness, prudence, and ethics… but the word also carries the idea of a skillful man (as in war.) so it is not just about pursuing mental growth but also physical excellence. The word “soul” here does refer to the inner man but also can be defined as life… mind… heart… desires… character; it covers the whole man.


These verses in the Proverbs tell us to pursue good things… to pursue excellence! And in doing so, it will give us a future and a hope; the word for hope literally means a desired outcome…


So I am asking us to follow the Scriptural advice here and pursue excellence,  but I think it also indicates pursuing excellent things. As believers we should do worthy work… work where we excel, not with the goal of being seen, (again it is ok if we are noticed), but ultimately with the goal of making God seen… where people give Him glory.


I’ve stated this in past devotions but was reminded again that we need to Do Worthy Work!