We are often content with being functional and utilitarian as long as it does the job. If you look at His creation it appears quite functional and at the same time incredible beautiful, diverse and extravagant at the same time. He seems to take delight in being outrageous in His creation designs.
Excellence is often used to describe something is great. It is a measure of how good something is. It relates to a person’s performance. Excellence means to God you giving your best shot, trying your best, your utmost. He does not compare you to others, it is not a competition for His affections. He compares your heart to His.
In your place of work there is a tendency to drop everything to the lowest common denominator. What is the minimum that people need to do. What is the least demanded or expected of them? You can also treat God and His church like that. What is the minimum required of you? This attitude appals Him. Jesus is the highest common denominator. He made you to be creative. To live a full and abundant life. He wants you to experience His kingdom. Not just read about it. He wants you to go on adventures and do amazing things. He wants you to be like Him, to be creative.
Don’t invest all your precious time and energy just to do enough. Go for His excellence and ditch the ‘that’ll do’ mentality. He is a God of excellence. You are a person created with excellence in mind. To do great things. You don’t have to be perfect but you will need to give it your all. It will show through because you can’t hide that light of His in you.
Jesus talks of abundance. That is for you. It is His abundance not yours. Yet He wants to share it with you. For you to experience His overwhelming goodness. He is not the God of ‘just enough’. He is the ‘much more’ God. The God of extravagance. He always makes too much but He isn’t wasteful. When opportunities arise there is provision attached to it. He is the God who doesn’t do little or insignificant. That means you.
Just look at what He has created. He hasn’t finished creating. Much of what He has done is beyond your understanding. There are things that you have not even seen yet. There are things that are still hidden from you. Mysteries that you can only wonder at. Yet He wants to show you and let you experience them for yourself.
He wants you to open your eyes to all the possibilities. To see His face and His hands. Then you will see what He is like and what He is doing. There is a growing desire for a much deeper intimacy in the church. The bridegroom is longing for greater passion from His bride (the church). It will happen and when it does it will be like a flood, like a tsunami. It will sweep away the the empty and fruitless structures. Only what He has made will remain.
You will experience a growing desire to be drawn into His Presence. It will feel almost addictive because you can’t get enough of Him. That is what hunger is. This powerful desire flows from a pure heart. Nothing else will satisfy the needs of a hungry heart. This is because when you have tasted of Him nothing else will satisfy you, ever again.