Academic excellence has to do with what we ought to do—that
is, the activities we need to carry out regularly to improve in our schoolwork until
we become extremely good at it.
Steps to that excellence are based on real facts, are
feasible, and must be carried out. They are devoid of any sort of sentimental
or emotional ideas that are not realistic. They work for anyone that does them,
rather than being ideas that a person may have about how academic excellence
might be achieved.
They include the do-able aspects of academic
excellence that we ignore most of the time because we are too busy with the
spiritual aspects. We neglect the practical aspects that ought to be taken
seriously.
We need realistic expectations concerning what we do
so that we do not have extreme expectations— that is, expecting God to do what
He never really said He would do. The Bible says, “Even so faith if it hath not
works, is dead being alone” (James 2:17 KJV).
Abraham, the father of our faith, showed us a good
example. God told him he would become a father of many nations, and God changed
his name from Abram to Abraham and also his wife’s name (Genesis17:5–15). Abraham
means “father of many nation.” This showed he believed God. But Abraham did not
stop there. He did not go around saying, “I am a father of many nation” without
a corresponding action.
What did Abraham do? The Bible says that he did not
consider his body dead or the womb of Sarah barren. So he went in and lay with
his wife, so they could have Isaac. If he had stopped at the level of name change
alone, Isaac wouldn’t have come forth.
Dear brothers and sisters, what we call faith
sometimes is not faith at all; it is just mere wish or, at best, presumption—a
high expectation based on wrong information that is usually followed by a wrong
corresponding action.
Some Christian students get that kind of wrong
information. They lay their hands on their books (some would go as far as standing
on their books and making decrees), but refuse to read them. In the end, they
fail. By the time they realize it, they are already in their third year in
school with a lot of failed classes. The practical truth when it comes to
overcoming your books is that you must study.
Your faith must be based on the Word of God . No Word,
no faith! If you have the Word of God and faith, that faith is dead without a corresponding
action.
One of the pastors that mentored me told me of his
experience while he was a student. He had a friend, a believer, who went to God
in prayer to seek His face concerning his academics. The friend came back and told
him that God had given him a word that he would be the head and not the tail.
As a result, he started reading his books ferociously.
My pastor just said, “I will be the head and not the
tail,” but did not study hard. My pastor’s friend did excellently, but my
pastor did not do very well. During the next session, however, my pastor went
to God for a word, which he received, and he backed it up with a corresponding
action. He emerged as one of the best in that session.
If you really believe that God will make you excel in your academics, you definitely
need to study your books.
Faith makes you work. Most lazy Christians try to
avoid the work aspect. But we must come to the point where we realize that we
must do something. We have a part to play in the matter. God expects us to work.
You have to give your all; fire on all cylinders. You can take authority over
your books, which I’m not against, for I do it myself. But if you don’t read,
calamity is coming on you, and you will fail. If you read, you will know! It’s
that simple.
Faith is not in any sense an opinion; religion is. The
apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”
(Philippians 4:13 KJV). Th is alone is a source of motivation to press forward.
Don’t be lazy. Motivate yourself. Some say that religion is the
opium of the people, but when the Bible says I can do
all things through Christ, that is a motivation, not opium. Let Christianity be
an opium to you when it comes to doing what is evil. Let the Bible motivate you
in doing what is right.
To lead an effective Christian life, you must be able
to bring the Word of God into a place of practicality. Bishop David Oyedepo,
the founder of Living Faith Church, once said that the problem he noticed in Christians
is that there are many revelations but little or no manifestation
because of lack of application, which leads to the
destruction of so many.
A practical truth of academic excellence is that facts
work the same way for anyone who will get involved in them. Good success comes
from balancing the spiritual with the physical, which is practical.
