Someone has said this: “The good is the enemy of the best.”
We can be so preoccupied with good things, that we don’t have time for the best, most important, most significant things.
We can live years of our lives pursuing things that are transitory and ultimately of little worth.
Good, maybe, but not of ultimate importance.
In Philippians 1:10, we read: “so that you may approve the things that are excellent.”
This is part of Paul’s prayer for the Philippians.
God wants us to choose His best.
The word approve in this verse means: to test something out so you can put your seal of approval on it.
The phrase “the things that are excellent” means: the things of superior worth or to recognize the best.
The idea is to know what is vital in life and what really matters by choosing the best over the better.
Paul prayed for the Philippians to approve the things that are truly vital and important so they can establish proper priorities in life.
This should be the prayer for ourselves and each other as well.
If we do not choose the things that really matter, by default we will have to settle for those things of lesser value.
It is easy for us to become distracted by being involved in good things but not the best things.
We get so busy we spend our time going around in circles because we are focusing our attention on secondary things rather than giving our attention to the primary things.
As we saturate our minds with the Word and let Christ live through us, we will give ourselves to the things that are of superior value.
There’s a story about a pilot who came on the loud-speaker during a flight and said, “I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is we’ve lost all our instrumentation and don’t know where we are. The good news is we have a strong tail wind and are making great time.”
This is a fairly accurate picture of how most people live.
They have no directional instrumentation and a strong tail wind, so they fly through life with no idea as to where they’re going.
This is not how we are to live as believers.
We are to let the Word richly dwell within us and yield to the Holy Spirit so we can make the best choices for our greater maturity in Christ.
Blessings!
Pastor Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries