Finish With Your Faith Still on Fire
Well, pull that ol’ chair over there up real close to this ol’ front porch, friend, and settle yourself in real good before then ol’ squirrels organize a committee meetin’ up in the pecan tree and that ol’ rooster starts crowin’ like he’s been appointed mayor. Around here, we know somethin’ about finishin’ what we start. You don’t quit churnin’ butter halfway through unless you’re hankerin’ for a bowl of confused, messed up cream, and you sho’-nuff’ don’t go and leave the garden gate open unless you want an ol’ goat conductin’ its own personal salad bar tastin’ service.
Paul sho’-nuff’ understood what finishin’ meant.
Near the end of his life he wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). He wasn’t doin’ no kind of braggin’ about a trouble free journey. Paul had been beaten, imprisoned, rejected, exhausted, and opposed. Yet when he looked back, the thing that mattered most wasn’t comfort. It was faithfulness.
That makes 1 Corinthians 15:58 mighty important as Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Faithfulness isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it looks like prayin’ when you’re tired, servin’ when nobody applauds, forgivin’ when your feelings are still fussin’, and trustin’ God when the road ahead is a whole lot foggier than a pond before sunrise.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to lay aside what weighs us down and run with perseverance. Notice that Scripture don’t tell us to outrun everybody else. God ain’t just standing around at heaven’s gate with a stopwatch hollering, “Pick it up!” He’s sho’-nuff’ callin’ us to keep going.
And Revelation 2:10 reminds us to remain faithful even unto death, and it plum points us toward the crown of life. The finish line ain’t merely the end of the journey. For the believer, it’s the doorway home.
Father, keep my heart faithful when the road is long. Give me strength to keep serving, loving, trusting, and following You. Strip away whatever slows my obedience, renew my joy, and help me finish the work You’ve given me with my eyes fixed on Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Now, skedaddle right on back into your day, friend, with your faith buttoned up tighter than a henhouse before an ol’ hungry fox convention gits started. Don’t you be wastin’ your time comparin’ your pace with somebody else’s. Keep walkin’ when you can’t run, keep prayin’ when you can’t see, and keep trustin’ when the trail bends into the woods. One glorious day, we want to be crossin’ that ol’ finish line plum worn out from lovin’ Jesus and still able to say, “I have kept the faith.”
With joy,
Gwen
