Strive for Excellence

“Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.  He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.”  Psalm 101:6-7

King David, in this Psalm, set the bar pretty high for himself.  Everything he intended to accomplish were good, godly goals.  He determined to be wise in a perfect way but recognized he needed God’s help.  He desired a perfect heart, that is one without pride or prejudice.  He determined not to look on evil nor to take part in anything evil.  He wanted to cast away any contrariness in his heart.  He wanted no wicked person to be so much as an acquaintance of his.

He would not tolerate one who spreads false statements about others or those who were on their high horses looking arrogantly at others.  He only wanted to hang out with those who were faithful.  He would only hire such to work for him.  He had no use for those who were deceitful or liars.  He determined there would not be any wicked people left in his city, Jerusalem.  He wanted to spend his time in songs of praise to the God of mercy and judgment.

I said that David set the bar pretty high for himself.  I think that was an understatement.  Everything he strived to implement into his life were all wonderful qualities, but many of them sound nearly impossible for a man or woman to achieve.  Why?  One reason is that many people have no desire to walk righteously.  We don’t have to look far to figure that out.  However, there are those of us who do strive to be righteous, do the right thing, help those in need, and just be an all around positive representative of Jesus Christ.  When folks are serious about their relationship with Christ and seek to live as Christ would have them live, they are mocked, called “holier than thou”, “goody too shoes”, etc.  I was told a couple of years ago that I was “too Christian”.  I don’t know exactly how the person who said that meant it, but their comment told me that I must be doing something right.  People have a hard time believing that someone can be without pride or prejudice.  David said that he only wanted to keep company with those who were faithful.  However, if Christians only hang out with other Christians, then who will witness to those lost in sin?  It would be great if we could avoid wickedness and only spend time enjoying the blessings of life that God provides, but that is not the world in which we are living.

It would be great if, on this earth, I didn’t have to hear another curse word, flip the remote control and catch a brief glimpse of a murder or an illicit sexual encounter before I can quickly change the channel, receive a scam call on the phone from someone desiring to rob me of my money, or listen to the lies of politicians who are promoting an ungodly agenda.  If we, like David’s desire, were able to eliminate all the wicked folks from our city, there wouldn’t be many of us left, perhaps no one.  The good news is that it won’t always be this way.  Jesus will return one day and rule in righteousness.  David’s standards can then be met in complete fulfillment.  For now, though, nothing is really stopping us from striving for excellence.  We should emulate the Apostle Paul who said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:14).  There is no greater goal than to be like Christ.