Is Good Enough?

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) reads, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” As we initiate yet another new year, a year of promise, of opportunities as well as challenges, we would do well to set our sights on visualizing that which the Creator and Redeemer has deemed as the target and objective for our lives both individually and corporately.

Recently, I read about an old Persian legend that pictured four angels observing as God created the world. One of the angels said, “Why did God make it?” Another questioned, “How did God make it?” Yet a third angel inquired, “Can I have it?” But the fourth and final angel asked, “Can I make it better?”

Someone once stated, “The greatest enemy of excellence, is good…” Perhaps individually and corporately, what we have done or accomplished can be described as “good.” But is “good” what God has required? I believe that if we are honest, in the deepest place of our spiritual fiber, we know that He has asked for excellence. Thus, the question arises, How do we achieve “excellence” in our spiritual life as well as our everyday existence while here in this world?

Second Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV) reads, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

Notice carefully where the excellence in our lives comes from—the continual presence of God with us. Immanuel = God with us. So often as we go about our daily lives, we settle for “less than.”

Perhaps in 2020, we can earnestly take strides toward fulfilling God’s divine purpose for us both individually and as a church, that as the days roll by, they not fade into the distance within the definition of “good,” as opposed to “excellent.”

May the Lord’s richest blessing and guidance be yours as you forge ahead in works and deeds that bring honor and glory to the King of the universe.

By Carlos J. Craig, President‍