With Excellence
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 23rd of November, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Exodus 39:43: ”Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, just so they had done it and Moses blessed them.” They had completed the task. They had done the work of the building of the tabernacle of God in the desert and Moses blessed them. Then we go to the gospel of Mark 14:16:”So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.” We’re talking today about doing a good job for the Lord. We’ve got to give the Lord Jesus the best, not the second best, not the leftovers. The Lord sent Peter and John to prepare a place for the last meal that He would have on earth. The Lord Jesus told them where to go and what to do but they did it with excellence, just like they built the tabernacle with excellence. I want to say to you today that you and I must do things for God with an excellent spirit.Now, I want to tell you a little story. Many years ago, when I was a fairly new preacher, I felt led to go to Cedarville in Kwazulu-Natal, to book the town hall and to have an outreach meeting. A very dear friend of mine said to me, ”There’s only one man who can do that for you. He’s an unbeliever, but he’s an exceptional organiser, and this man will do it, but I’m not sure whether he’ll accept the proposal because he’s not a Christian.” Anyway, miraculously, my friend approached him and he said, ”Yes, I’ll think about it. Where does this guy stay?” That’s me, and he told him the address and where the farm was. He arrived on the farm in a very big, fancy Mercedes-Benz. He got out of the car, I said, ”Would you like to come and have a cup of coffee? I’ve been expecting you.” He said, "No, thank you, I’m very busy.” He said, ”What’s your name?” I told him who I am, and he said, ”I will organise it for you.” I said, ”Is that all there is to it?” He said, ”I’ll do everything,” and out he drove, and he did an incredible job of preparation and by the way, he gave his life to Christ in the middle of that outreach, and he became a preacher himself, him and his dear wife. They had a little caravan and they drove all over the Eastern Cape, preaching the gospel and I asked him many many years later, ”Mike, why did you accept that invitation when you didn’t even know who I was?” He said, ”Because I drove onto your farm and I saw the fences were straight, the road was nicely prepared, the maise looked fantastic, the cattle were fat and I thought, I will do this job.” We need to do a good job because it makes a good impression. Don’t give God your second best, and do everything you do as unto Him. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye
New Zealand