Then this 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 (NKJV)
Did you know:
- The average gold ball has 336 dimples.
- The average bed contains over 6 billion dust mites.
- The average hen lays 228 eggs a year.
- The average porcupine has 30,000 spikes.
- The average cow produces 40 glasses of milk a day.
- On average there are 8 peas in a pod.
- The average mature oak tree sheds over 700,000 leaves in autumn.
A.W.Tozer, the noted theologian, wrote:
Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.
It’s interesting and important to note that the word ‘average’ is not in the King James Version, New King James, New International, New American Standard, Amplified or New Living Translation of the Bible. It isn’t in any of those translations because God created, empowered and destined each of us to rise above average – to move into excellence in all that we do.
Consider the account of Daniel. The word “excellent” in today’s reading means ‘to go beyond the norm, to break out of the status quo, to exceed the common measure, to surpass’. Like Daniel, we are to distinguish ourselves by God’s empowering presence in our lives. Reading through the book of Daniel you see that he was a man of purpose.
Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. Daniel 1:8 (KJV)
He allowed God’s Word to shape the attitudes of his heart and boundaries of his behaviour right from the beginning. He was also a man of prayer.
He went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open towards Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. Daniel 6:10 (NLT)
Notice this verse says that Daniel prayed before the Lord “just as he had always done”.
These are only two examples of excellence in Daniel’s life. Don’t fall into the ‘average Christian’ category. You have a high calling.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14 (KJV)
The world is already filled with mediocrity, so don’t settle for adding more white noise. Refuse to be average.