God gives us a platform called life …

As I’m writing this, 22-year-old Jordan Spieth is atop the leader board on the first day of this year’s Master’s golf tournament.

It was Tiger Woods’ remarkable excellence at the game that captured my attention regarding the sport of golf. As Tiger fades into the background, younger golfers are beginning to step into golf’s limelight. Spieth had already been gaining attention when his win at the Master’s last year catapulted him into golf’s spotlight.

Now leading this year’s tournament, can Spieth win back-to back green jackets?

As excitement builds for the Master’s, tonight will be a sad night as the show American Idol, once a television ratings juggernaut, crowns its last winner and fades to black for good. At least, I’m sad to see the show go off air. I started watching the program when it first came on 15 years ago, and although I missed a block of years, I tuned back in a few years ago.

What captured my attention about this show is that it’s been an incredible opportunity for people with a gift to sing to make huge strides toward their dream of being a great singer. Each season, viewers have been introduced to many people who work tirelessly in pursuit of their hope of one day making it big in music, something so few ever really get a chance to realize. I love seeing people working hard to accomplish their goals and use their God-given talent.

Opportunities for “greatness” in particular fields may be very limited and hard to come by. Few people will achieve greatness in the field they work in, or with the talents they have. But every one of us have the opportunity to pursue excellence of life, excellence as a person, excellence as a child of God. I posted a meme to my ministry Facebook page yesterday that speaks volumes:

We are not given a good life or a bad life. We are given life. And it’s up to you to make it good or bad.

What that looks like is different for every one of us. For the man who gets up before sunrise to work a tough, physically demanding job that earns just enough to house and feed and meet the other needs of his family, who he makes time for and pours his life into as much as possible, and over the years raise children who become disciples of Christ who live with integrity — for that man, that’s a life of excellence.

God has given each one of us the platform of life on which we can choose to pursue excellence in living, if only we dare to. That opportunity is given to us all, from plumber to philosopher. John Gardner once noted:

“The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”

A life of excellence looks different for each of us, and the choice to strive for excellence is a personal one. Edwin Bliss once observed:

“The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time.”

Make no doubt, excellence in living is something that is a choice and requires dogged determination and effort on our part. In his book, The Pursuit of Excellence, Ted Engstrom explains the difference between greatness and excellence:

In his fine book, Excellence, John Gardner says, “Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them. They achieve it. They do not achieve it unwittingly by doing what comes naturally and they don’t stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves. All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.”

God gives us a life to live, and that serves as a platform to build something excellent, something mediocre, or something bad. The Apostle Paul urges us to seek after that which is excellent, and to make that which is excellent a focal point of our thoughts:

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me — everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you,” Philippians 4:8-9.

What are you building on the platform of life that God has given you?

Scotty