Finish Well

I read of a journalist who was in charge of the obituaries. One day when he didn’t have any deaths to record, he put a sheet of blank paper in his typewriter and wrote his own name at the top. He then found himself writing his own obituary: “I have been a good husband and a fine father. I have contributed to a number of worthy causes. I have left a reputation of absolute integrity. My friends are many.” By the time he had finished the page, he had already, unknowingly and unintentionally, committed himself to the task of living up to his own obituary.

Starting well is relatively easy. Finishing well is a different matter! Starting that new diet or exercise program is kind of fun, but hanging in over the long haul is the real test. Getting married is exciting and relatively easy. Staying married through the struggles, adjustments, and trials is not always an easy matter.

The same is true of the Christian life. Becoming a Christian is relatively easy: acknowledge to God that you are a sinner and receive by faith the free gift of eternal life that Christ provided by His shed blood. You cannot work for salvation nor do anything to qualify for it. God gives it freely to all that recognize their need and trust in Christ alone.

The Christian life is a marathon, not a 100-yard dash. Since finishing a marathon well is not easy, when you see a man who sprints across the finish line, you ought to try to find out his secret. The apostle Paul was such a man. It’s as if he has crossed the finish line with energy to spare. He jogs back to where Timothy seems to be losing steam and exhorts him to keep running well. It is clear that Paul is looking death in the face. His words must have caused Timothy to burst into tears when he first read them. And, these words must have sobered Timothy with the reality that Paul had handed off the baton to him. Now, he had to finish well.

Perhaps your circumstances seem pretty dismal today. Maybe you’re considering dropping out of the Christian race. From his dungeon, the aged apostle calls out to you:

§  “Don’t quit! Keep going! You can finish well!

§  “Keep in focus my view of the present: You can reproduce yourself in others to carry the torch after you. View your life as a sacrifice to God. Your death will be a departure to be with Christ.

§  “Keep in focus my view of the past, so that one day it will be your past. You will be able to look back and say that you engaged in the struggle for the cause of Christ. You didn’t drop out of the race! You guarded the truth of the gospel.

§  “Keep in focus my view of the future. Soon you will stand before the Lord, the righteous Judge, vindicated by His grace. Live in view of that day!” If you live with Paul’s focus, you will finish well!

Ask yourself these questions and give yourself a sincere answer:

o   With whom are you currently trying to reproduce yourself? If the answer is “no one,” ask God to direct you to someone.

o   Does the idea of departing to be with Christ cause you more fear or peace? If fear, how can you change this?

o   When do you most feel like dropping out of the race? What encourages you to keep going at those times?

o   Should believers be motivated by the thought of heavenly rewards? How can we keep that motivation pure?

Rescue Mission

Imagine the creator of this vast universe who has all knowledge, all power coming to the ones he created to make himself known to them. Well that’s exactly what took place over 2,000 years ago. To communicate with us in the best way possible, God “became flesh,” He became one of the creatures he made, man.

Why did God do this? Because our greatest need is an eternal one. It’s not about what we can gain in this life, in profits or pleasure or making a lasting imprint on this earth. None of these will satisfy our soul. Ours is a spiritual need, one that we were created for, to have fellowship with God and do His will.

Jesus came to earth because he loves us; He came to deliver truth in a world of false beliefs. But the main reason He came to earth was to be the final sacrifice for our sins. The simple reason is because we are not good, some may think they are, but none are as good as they think when compared to God’s standard--Jesus Christ.

His love prompted him to become man to accomplish what only He could, to rescue mankind.  Because we are sinful, in a spiritually wrecked condition we are in need of redemption but could not redeem ourselves. Nothing short than the eternal creator could accomplish this; no man with sin could qualify to redeem us with his life. God would come to earth as man to cleanse the affect of the disease of sin inherited to all humanity. That is what is so amazing about the Bibles story of Jesus. The creator came to earth; God who is perfect, righteous and holy lived among his creatures that are unholy, unrighteous, even those who were enemies of him.

Jesus came to earth because of God's love for all of us; no matter what religion, country or culture we were born into He wants fellowship with us. He wants us to experience the mercy and forgiveness that is needed to make us whole.

Only in Christ can we have faith, hope and love. We have Faith to live in a fallen world where things do not often go the way we would like. Yet we can trust God who is watching over us and personally cares for our life. We have Hope for our life today no matter what may happen and hope for our future. Hope that the life to come is going to be more fulfilling and than anything we experienced on earth. We can Love God who gave the ultimate sacrifice in laying down the life of his human body to save us from the penalty of our sins. Now we are able to love Him who we once hated. Because of this new life, love is indwelled in us that we are also able to love people in a greater manner, even those we may not know.

Your Legacy

Legacy is an interesting word. It means an inheritance of property or money, but it also speaks to the value system you live by and the memories you will leave behind.

How do you leave a legacy that is a gift? And if you had inherited a legacy that was a burden, as so many of us do, in some form or other, how do you avoid passing that burden on to your children?

There is a Jewish saying that the most vulnerable people are those who are dead. The dead no longer have any power except the power those they leave behind give them.  Legacy is, in many ways, an attempt to have and keep making impact after death.

As Paul pondered the end of his life, he made three very simple statements about his legacy. He had “fought the good fight”—standing firm as a spiritual warrior, clothed in the armour of God, faithfully defending the truth of the gospel. He had “finished the race”—ensuring in the process that he was neither disqualified nor disheartened in the marathon of life and ministry. Most importantly, he had “kept the faith”—remaining true, committed, and loyal to the One who rescued him from sin and darkness.

Notice that Paul’s brief statements here say nothing about the education he had received, the places he had travelled, the letters he had written, the people he had preached to, or the churches he had planted. He flat out wanted his legacy to be labelled as “faithful.” I love that! It’s what I want to aspire to as a follower of Jesus.

So, I have to ask myself, “If that’s the kind of legacy I want to leave, how would I pursue it today?” Well, it means that my choices need to be more about “fighting the good fight.” I need to put on the spiritual armour each morning, as Paul told the Ephesians to do, and live to be victorious in all that comes my way. I need to be running the race to win, putting off all that hinders and the sins that entangle (Hebrews 12:1). And, it means that in every situation I want my attitudes, my words, and my actions to be loyal and true to Jesus.

As Paul told the Philippians, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Hebrews 3:13-14). There’s no better time than the start of this New Year to set our sights on new goals that will, over time, develop a legacy worth leaving.

Building a legacy worth leaving behind begins today and is made one decision at a time. Live your life such that Jesus will say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Being Concerned

Healthy caring relationships in the body of Christ may be defined as fellowship that experiences goodness on one hand and the absence of evil on the other. A commitment to caring and loving relationships requires a proactive, mutual, unconditional, gracious, and merciful thrust that is intended to connect one another beyond our differences. Living in the here and now poses a challenge to this premise because divisive factors present impediments to such harmony.

The first two characteristics of the early church were that "they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship" (Acts 2:42). Many of our churches today are strong on teaching but weak on fellowship. Good teaching is not a substitute for fellowship.

In Galatians 5:16-26 Paul contrasts those qualities of character that result in bad relationships with those that form good relationships. "The acts of the sinful nature" include "hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy", whereas "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." As Stephen Covey says in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People with regard to running a business, or marriage, or family:

“No amount of technical administrative skill in labouring for the masses can make up for lack of nobility of personal character in developing relationships.”

What the New Testament means by the Church is not an institution which owns property, performs rites and organises meetings, or even one that plans strategies to evangelise unreached people. Rather, it is a group of ordinary people who, because they are experiencing the immense grace of a compassionate God, are learning how to overcome hostility between people, forgive and trust one another, share what they have and encourage one another in wholesome and joyous relationships.

Being part of a family is wonderful. And it has its share of challenges and problems. So we all need to do our part to make the family become better. Treat each other with respect and being gentle and considerate go a long way in building a strong family. We need to do our best to provide for our own families and also to assist who are in need.

What is needed, then, is for organised Christianity to be seen as a cause. Only a cause that is obviously unselfish, outgoing, compassionate, flexible and travelling light in terms of structures, can be a credible source for the message that God is, God loves, God came and God forgives.

Each of us need to practice the truth we have been entrusted with. Information must lead to application that produces transformation. Not only will this result in godly living, it will help others to be receptive to the gospel as they see us practice what we preach.

Decision/consequences

I visited my place of birth some weeks back and stumbled upon some of my old pictures. As I flipped through forgotten photos from my early days. I could see how innocent and unperturbed I was (maybe I still am). I was even cute! And yet, I would spend so much time obsessing about what was wrong with me. How often do I wake up and go through the day, missing what is in front of me? During these years, I made several decisions most of which I wish I didn’t. But now I realise those decisions are what made me who I am today. As Viktor Frankl said, “Live as if you were living already for the second time, and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!” This doesn’t just apply to big moral choices you must make. This may just be the choice to be happy and appreciate your breath.

If you could go back to a younger age, knowing what you know today, how would you have done things differently to be further ahead than you are now? Hindsight always is clearer than foresight. Many of us can think of things we wish we had done differently in order to be better off today. Every decision or action has a reward or recompense.

When the Lord comes, He comes with a reward for us. Rewards by simple definition are good things. We tend to think of rewards in materialistic terms. However, we know that God is bringing something far better than materialistic things. The Lord is also bringing something else with Him: recompense. And this recompense is to precede the reward part.

Our lives and how we live them are open advertisements of the beauty of following Jesus. How we live now matters for all eternity. We are building our lives on our faith in Christ, lives that will continue to serve His purposes in His eternal kingdom. This short earthly life is a training ground for our eternal assignment. After placing our trust in Christ, the next important thing in a believer’s life is discovering his or her place of serving others.

If you have not discovered how you are gifted to serve others in the name of the Lord, begin that journey toady. Speak to a mature Christian or pastor and share your heart’s desires. Explore different opportunities to serve. Be willing to learn and grow. Remember you are building a life that will last forever.