Finishing Strong

Acts 20:24 - But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God

    Everything in this life is attempting to move us. It may be trying to move us toward something or, it may be trying to move us away from something, but everything is geared toward influence and even coercion. The reality for the Christian is that He does not have to make an initial move toward God because God has already moved toward him. He has placed him in a position of strength and victory and now he simply needs to stand and defend his ground. Do not be moved off of your safe place in Christ. The enemy will always try to coax you down out of your strong fortress. Do not let him.

    What is our deepest life motive? What is it that causes us to get up in the morning and what is it that puts a spring in our step? What truly moves us? The Scripture supplies several examples of different factors that moved people. We read that some had negative and questionable motivations; they were moved with indignation and others were moved with envy. However, there are also examples of those whose inner drive and purpose was much nobler; Jesus was moved with compassion as He healed the sick; Noah was moved with a godly fear as he built an ark at the command of God and the ancient prophets were moved with the Holy Spirit as they spoke the words of God. What are our innermost private aims and aspirations? What moves us, why are we being moved, and what are we moving toward?

    The simplest way for us to genuinely gauge our motives is to place our lives under the scrutiny and the test of true love. Do I consistently put myself ahead of others? Do I regard my life as more important than others? Do I only think of how each choice will benefit myself? Don’t misunderstand what I am saying; it is extremely important to take care of ourselves and to live a healthy, well-rounded lifestyle. However, we must also guard against going to the extreme of thinking of ourselves merely. Balance always has been and always will be the key to life and a fine balance is not always easily obtained and, once obtained, it is even harder to maintain. The Earth itself must stay within a very tight orbit; too close to the Sun and we would be burned; too far from the Sun and we would freeze. One minister friend of mine used to use the illustration of an elastic band and how it must have the perfect tension for it to be effective. No tension at all and the band will become listless and useless; too much tension and the band will snap. The importance of living a sensible and balanced life cannot be overstated.

     One of the other safeguards against self-centeredness is to keep our relationship with God in proper order. He is the High and Mighty One. He is to be exalted and honoured in all things and in every way. It is really a matter of keeping first things first and never allowing the urgent to take the place of the important. Some things, of course, are both urgent and important but most things in life are important but not urgent. To keep God as our first priority does not always seem urgent but it is extremely important. In the end, the incremental steps, consistently taken, will always win. For Paul, his guide in life seemed to be measured by what he valued. ‘I do not consider my life to be the most precious and valuable thing to me. My life is a gift from God and I must use the skill, the energy and the time that I have been given to fulfil the ministry and the course that has been set for me’. 

    Finishing is a lost discipline to our world today. Whether it is a marriage, a business venture, a new job or simply a friendship, many people start but few people finish, and fewer still, finish well. The beginning of any enterprise or project carries with it a sense of excitement and freshness and that initial burst of inspiration keeps carrying us forward toward our goal. Likewise near the close of a venture, when we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, the taste of accomplishment and reward spurs us on. However, there is that tedious, boring and all-too-familiar middle stretch that must be endured. One British writer has written of what he called the danger of the middle period; we may have even heard it referred to as a mid-life crisis. This is where the test is the hardest as it offers us other options and urges us to give in and leave the course of faith. Any athlete knows that the course is laid out for you and if you leave the course you are disqualified, no matter how talented or capable you are; there are laws of finishing.

    How we finish is equally important as finishing itself. We definitely want to cross that finish line but we also want to do it with a spirit of joy. The course that we are on is not an easy road and many of us have stumbled under the weight of the burdens and have been tempted to throw in the towel and quit.  Many noble servants of God can testify that it is surprisingly easy to become weary in well doing; weary in the task but not necessarily weary of the task. The reality is that we are alive and we have been given an assignment and set on a course which is fraught with many perils and pressures; hence the need for joy. Joy is one of those qualities from God that strengthens us to continue and its buoyant feature seems to alleviate the burdens and protect us as we journey. A joyful person is also an un-offended person, and an un-offended person will almost always finish well.

    Take heart, friend, because the Lord is with you and He will never leave you alone to finish in your own strength. He will reward you and I even if He has to lift us up in His arms and carry us over the finish line!