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Finishing Strong

My senior pastor just retired. Two days ago. It sounds like a good idea, but my wife shot the idea down pretty quickly. Something about not wanting me around the house that much. Or maybe it was something about saving money for our children’s college fund. So it looks like I’ll remain among the working for a bit longer.

But all of this did get me thinking about transitions and how a person ends what they began. It is the hope that will finish strong, because, just as in a basketball game, people always remember the last shot.

This doesn’t just apply to people who are retiring. Everything from how you end a career to how you finish your day should be included. Are you ending a school year? An extensive work project? Your high school or college career? Maybe you’re finishing a letter or email to a friend and need to decide how to sign off.

There are Biblical examples that prove my point. Consider King David. Before he was king he was a national hero who killed Goliath and routed the Philistines everywhere he went. Even after assuming the throne he was known as ‘a man after God’s own heart.’ But later in his reign he became an adulterer and a murder. This caused all sorts of grief for his family and his kingdom. God remained true when David repented, but his life ended on somewhat of a low note.

How about the Apostle Peter? This fisherman who acted and spoke before he thought often found himself to be the center of a lesson time with Jesus. He even ended up denying Jesus. But that is not the end of Peter. Read the book of Acts and you find a powerful preacher and healer. Though arrested and beaten several times, Peter had to be crucified in order to be shut up. That may not sound like ending well, but trust me, it is.

We’re told in a couple of places by John in Revelation that finishing strong requires endurance (Revelation 13:10; 14:12). Paul tells Timothy that “if we endure, we will also reign with [Jesus]” (2 Timothy 2:12a).

So are you about to finish something? This is more than just reading an entire book or finishing the crossword puzzle you started. I’m not sure it’s a sin to leave a home project incomplete, but I’m willing to bet that someone is counting on you to get it done.

I know this for sure. God wants you to finish what you started. If you have been called with a purpose then it is imperative that the purpose be accomplished. As Paul encouraged the Corinthians with a project they had started, so now I encourage you;
“Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means” (2 Corinthians 8:11).

Then you’ll be able to join Paul in saying, as he did in his final letter; “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

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