Son, There Are No Shortcuts

Daniel 6:1-3 Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose 120 satraps to rule throughout his kingdom. He chose three men to rule over the 120 satraps. Daniel was one of the three supervisors. The king put these men in this position to keep anyone from cheating him. Daniel proved himself to be a better supervisor than any of the others. He did this by his good character and great ability.

Excellence: The more commoditised the world becomes, the more choices we have, the less common it becomes. And so the temptation is for you and me to cut corners, to sink down to the world’s standards, rather than operate in a spirit of excellence.

Every Saturday morning when I was a kid, I had to clean my bedroom. That meant dusting, vacuuming, tidying up – even inside my wardrobe and drawers. When I was done, my father would come to inspect the result.

To be honest, I wanted to cut corners, get done quickly, go outside and play. But he wouldn’t let me. If there were still some specs on the carpet, I had to vacuum it again. I hated it. What was the point?

Now, all these years later, I totally get the point. He was teaching me about excellence. My father’s long gone, but I can still hear him saying, “Son, there are no shortcuts.”

Sadly, these days all too many people – and let me say here, all too many of God’s people – are taking shortcuts wherever they can. But … then there was Daniel of lion’s den fame. The king …

Daniel 6:1-3 Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose 120 satraps to rule throughout his kingdom. He chose three men to rule over the 120 satraps. Daniel was one of the three supervisors. The king put these men in this position to keep anyone from cheating him. Daniel proved himself to be a better supervisor than any of the others. He did this by his good character and great ability.

The grace of God isn’t an excuse to cut corners. Being a Christian isn’t an excuse for doing a lesser job. Excellence is an attribute of God – the God in whose image you and I are made.

And remember, “Son, there are no shortcuts.”

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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