The Spirit of Excellence

The Spirit of Excellence I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. Daniel 5 v 14 Daniel’s contemporaries credited him to have a keen mind, knowledge and understanding. They told the Babylonian king Belshazzar that Daniel also had the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. He had these attributes as the spirit of God dwelled in him for the spirit of God is the spirit of excellence. Daniel excelled on account of the anointing on him. He had a prophetic calling and the Holy Spirit imparted these gifts to him that he used wisely, boldly and with a lot of humility. To prove that the gifts of Daniel were not natural but supernatural in origin and administration, God invested such wisdom in three of his fellow Jewish captives: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Their being subjected to prolonged period of training and education in contemporary Babylonian science and religion did not make them prey to learned incapacity. They were evidence that even in the most unfavourable circumstances, with God’s grace, one can excel even in captivity. Each of us is in captivity in this world where sin, misery, violence and curse abounds but the grace of God will enable us to excel. Belshazzar wanted Daniel to interpret the mystery of the writing on the wall. He promised to give Daniel rewards for doing so- clothes of purple, a gold chain and the position of the third highest ruler in the kingdom. But Daniel was not enticed by these gifts. He asked the king to keep his gifts for himself or give it to someone else. Then he spoke the prophetic word from God that rebuked the king for setting himself up against the Lord of heaven, worshipping idols of silver, gold, stone, metal and wood, for not honouring God who held his life and all his ways in His hand. Then Daniel interpreted the meaning of the words written by the hand on the wall of the the banquet hall of the palace, “ Mene,Mene, Tekel, Parsin.” Daniel interpreted that the king’s days were numbered and his reign would be brought to an end, that he was weighed and found short and that the kingdom is going to be divided. Yesterday, I read somewhere that a life without God is like an unsharpened pencil and there is no point. When we walk humbly and close to God, His wisdom rubs off on us. He sharpens our intellect to make it keen. He moulds our attitudes to make it wholesome, balanced and healthy. He gives us the gift to understand and interpret mysteries. He turns our life from being a mystery into a mastery. We develop insight and understanding into a variety of critical issues of life. We will be wise in our choices and decision making. The wisdom that we are anointed with is no ordinary wisdom but it is outstanding. It will tend to make us gentle, pure, peaceable, hopeful, helpful, humble and excellent. We should be people who can explain the enigma of life, the meaning of unusual events. We are called to be problem-solvers and solution-finders. It is no wonder that some of the greatest leaders of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were people anointed by God- Abraham Lincoln who is rated as the greatest ever of American Presidents, Martin Luther King Jr. who continues to inspire generations of leaders like even the present President of the USA. Even in the twenty first century, there are leaders like Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany who professes her faith openly and submits her leadership to God. The God of Daniel is present to this day and is always willing to anoint leaders and people who wait or depend on Him. Led by the Holy Spirit, we too should number our days to render ourselves wise unto God. We should confess our faults and failings that make us fall short of God’s esteem. Not only does the Lord sharpen our minds but He gives us an eraser to rub away our shortcomings. Our minds should not be divided between the world and the Word but we should always learn to look at the world through the templates of the Word and interpret temporary reality in the light of eternal revealed truths of scripture. The life of Daniel has always been, or at least from the days of my youth, a shining and alluring example for me. When people ask me “ How is it possible to be a faithful witness of Christ in a corrupt, brutal , hardened world of law enforcement ?” I say, “ The dimmest light shines brightest in the darkest night.” Prateep V Philip