“Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.” (Daniel 6:3)

Scripture makes two things clear about excellence:

#1. We can expect excellence of our God. E.g. “O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1, 9)

#2. Our God expects excellence of us. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

The main reason for us to strive for excellence in all we do is simply because that is how we reflect the image of our Creator! Like Father, like child, amen?

A secondary reason is that excellence is noticed, appreciated, applauded and rewarded.

This is clearly demonstrated in the life of Daniel. Though he was a Hebrew immersed in Babylonian culture, he was able to stand head and shoulders above everyone else, “because an excellent spirit was in him.”

He got the attention of the king who “gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.”

Wow!

That is the power of excellence to attract the attention of others, especially those in positions of influence who are always on the lookout for clones of Daniel today!

A lesser known Biblical illustration of excellence is found in Genesis 24. Abraham’s senior servant is on a search for a bride for Isaac. As he sits by the well in Nahor he decides to look for excellence: Let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. (v. 14)

Sure enough, when Rebekah shows up, that is exactly what she does. She demonstrates excellence by going above and beyond what was expected of her. The “excellent spirit” in her does not go unnoticed. The servant invites himself to Rebekah’s household, works out the details of the dowry, gets her family to sign a release…and the rest is history.

Rebekah’s ascent from being a glorified maid to becoming matriarch of Israel’s #1 family begins with the excellence with which she served a total stranger at a well.

On the road to your destiny, there will be times when you may be tempted to cut corners, do a shoddy job hoping no one will notice, and simply settle for mediocrity.

If it does attract attention, you can be guaranteed that the consequences are not likely to be positive for you!

If, on the other hand, you press in and let your excellence shine through in everything, you will not only attract attention, you will receive promotion, as Daniel & Rebekah did.

But, excellence does not come automatically. It is something we need to desire and keep in front of us all the time.

As the apostle Paul put it in Philippians 4:8: ” Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

How about you, dear DWOD friend? Could you be accused and convicted of excellence?