The Excellent Spirit

The Excellent Spirit

By Pastor Jim May

Most historians and Bible teachers agree that it was around 600 years before Jesus was born, that there lived a man by the name of Daniel who found himself in some pretty precarious situations. I want to take a look at the highlights of Daniel’s life and show you some important things that are relevant to you today.

Daniel 6:3, "Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm."

The Bible tells us more than once that Daniel was a man who had an excellent spirit. What is that excellent spirit and how can we hope to have the same excellent spirit and attitude that Daniel had?

Daniel’s spirit was the result of the way he handled himself, and the way he treated other people, and most of all, the manner in which he served his God. These are all key factors in the development of Daniel’s character and nature. Perhaps if we could pick out those characteristics that made Daniel into a man with an excellent spirit, then we could develop that same kind of excellent spirit too. Do you have an excellent spirit? Let’s put it to the litmus test of God’s Word and find out.

Daniel’s story begins in scripture when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded and conquered Judah and captured Jerusalem, taking part of the vessels of gold and silver that belonged to the temple and placed those same sacred vessels in the temple of his own idol gods. As a young teenager, perhaps as young as 12 or 13 years old, Daniel and many of his friends were all taken back to Babylon as captives, to be trained in the ways of the Babylonians and become personal servants to the King.

I’m sure that you may have heard of a few of Daniel’s friends who were captured with him. Their names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; better known today as Sharach, Meschach and Abednego who would literally go through the fiery furnace as a test of their faithfulness. (And you thought your trials were hard!)

Right from the start of the story we are given clues to help us understand how Daniel developed his excellent spirit. The Babylonian King wanted only the best of the Hebrew children to be trained in his kingdom.

Of course, Nebuchadnezzar and his master eunuch were not looking at Daniel and his friends from a spiritual point of view. All they were looking for were children with perfect bodies and perfect minds. But for us, I think that it would be best if we were to relate the character of Daniel through a spiritual point of view as well as the physical.

Daniel 1:3-4, "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans."

So what do we see in Daniel that helped develop his excellent spirit? First of all, there was no blemish, nothing in their character that would keep them from fulfilling the desires of the king; no physical, mental or emotional problems that would hinder their ability to learn.

When we look at that we need to see that God must have those same kinds of qualities in his children if we are going to be productive citizens of the Kingdom of God. God doesn’t look so much on the physical side of who we are. I’ve seen God use many people who had physical limitations, and there is no doubt that many of us have emotional problems from time to time – and maybe even a few of us with “mental problems” as well. Yet, in spite of all of that, God still uses us as much as we allow him to.

What God is looking for in us is that excellent spirit, not an excellent body, even though we are told to take care of this body for it is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God is looking for men and women who are “without blemish”. A blemish is nothing more than a spot, a stain or a mark that cannot be erased. The fact is that all men are blemished. We are all born blemished by the stain of sin, the spot of the world that clings to us and the mark of sin upon our head.

So how can I develop an excellent spirit? The first step is to get rid of the blemishes. And how do you rid yourself of blemishes? That can only be accomplished by repenting of your sin, accepting Jesus into your life and surrendering your life to him through the act of salvation. The blood of Jesus washes away all sin.