Arise And Shine!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” Hebrews 12:1 

Isaiah 60:1-3 says, “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.” God is saying in this chapter, “I do not want My church to be hidden in a closet, nor do I want My people in a dark world to hide the light that I have in them.”

The world we live in responds to excellence. If you want to attract the attention of other people, get a spirit of excellence. What is a spirit of excellence? It’s two things – number one, do what you do well; number two, do what you do with a good attitude. If you do these two things, a spirit of excellence will begin to shine through you in a dark world, and you will stand out. Your performance determines your platform. When you go above and beyond, you will earn people’s respect.

Anyone at the top of their field, whether that be in sports, medicine, education, or business has influence and a platform that other people do not have. When they receive awards or achieve great things, nobody pulls the microphone away or stops them from talking about Jesus Christ. People want to know what makes them so great at what they do.

If you’re going to influence people, you’re going to have to become excellent at what you do. You will need to rise and shine. When you begin to stand out, God will start to shine light in a dark world, and people will be drawn to Him. But you’re going to have to do what you do well. If you work in an office, you need to be one of the hardest workers and most reliable people on your job. You need to keep a great, positive attitude at all times. That stuff matters. If you’re the one who’s always late or the one who doesn’t get along with anybody on the job, then you’re not going to have influence.

The people in the Bible who influenced their generation were people of excellence.

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