For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:4
So what was it that impressed the Queen of Sheba so much in 2 Chronicles chapter nine, that she became breathless? The original language implies that she nearly passed out. It wasn’t just Solomon’s wealth alone, because she came from plenty of wealth herself. In fact she brought quite a bit of wealth with her to give as gifts to King Solomon. So then what was it that so impressed her? It was the combination of “Excellence and the Anointing.”
Several years ago I was a part a renovation project at the church where I was pastoring and my mind had been filled all kinds of ideas about design, layout, décor and all things necessary to make a building impressive. A few days later I was at a large mall in the Capital city of my state, just walking around taking note of the impressive common areas, seating, tile, and more. Everything I was taking in was giving me some great ideas for our church when this thought hit me; “We will never be able to out-do the world when it comes to the things of the world.” It’s great to have nice impressive facilities, but if that’s all there is to it, then something’s missing.
What hit me was that mall was impressive, but the “Anointing” and the power of God and His presence were missing. No one was getting healed, no one was coming to Christ and no ones lives where being changed. Sure, it was an impressive facility and a great place to shop, but nothing of eternal value was happening because His Anointing and Presence was missing.
Sometimes we try so hard in the Church to out “world the world” with our impressive sound systems, lighting, furnishings and such, all of which are great, but where is the “Anointing?” I’m all for excellence, but excellence alone won’t change a life. It takes the combination of excellence and the Anointing to take the world’s breath away. When they see things done in a “first class way” and the Anointing and Presence of God is “all over it,” it makes them speechless. And, that’s exactly what happened to the Queen of Sheba. When she saw how excellent everything was and how they worshiped and how the presence of God was so present, she “bout passed out.”
God’s resurrection power is alive in us, not to just help us, but to make a difference and impression on the world around us. Today and everyday let’s “go for it” when it comes to excellence in our lives and let’s ask God for His Anointing and Presence to be all over us so that every where we go we’ll leave the world speechless.