Finishing Well

 

2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

This week, Michael writes: A popular topic with people is finishing well. The Apostle Paul finished well. The book of 2 Timothy was his epistle about “finishing well” and passing the baton to Timothy, his son in the faith. To finish means to use up entirely and complete. Finishing well is to rise up and pour out everything in life according to the Lord's intended purpose. The song by Casting Crowns “Only Jesus” is about finishing well.  The purpose of this life is finishing well.

There are many paradoxes of ironies and contradictions in the Christian life. God by His love, mercy, and grace allows us to unearth life's most precious spiritual gems and gold nuggets where we least expect to find them. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. One such hidden gem is that in order to finish strong I must become weak. As the Apostle Paul said, "Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. Your grace is sufficient for me."  He said, "My life has been poured out as a drink offering and a sweet-smelling savor unto my Lord."

God always gives us a choice through the trials of life. Every relationship in this life will end in pain except for one.  Jesus said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Our ministry is to create an environment where God can come help himself to our lives. To “finish strong” means to endure without protest in subjection to the Master's will. God is our Maker and our Master. At the end of the race God will reassure us, "I am faithful to my Word. I have deepened you in the furnace of affliction and purified you through the crucible of life. Now you may rest in my love and find comfort in my own intensive care. Heaven rejoices when you go through trials and the valley of the shadow of death with a singing and rejoicing spirit.  Through the trials, you will find your joy in fellowship of my comfort.  At the finish line I will bid you, "Enter now into the joy of your Master."

He has called us to finish well. And In finishing well, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael