The Finish Line is in Sight, Now What?
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I am not a runner but I have always admired those who are. I think how amazing is it to be running a grueling race and then to be the first to see that finish line?
How awesome is that feeling to break through that ribbon and know you are the first to make it?
You finished the course, yes its really done!
There is nothing more satisfying than completeting something, hey?
To build a house, to drive in the last nail or put on the last stroke of paint.
To know that you have completed the job so so good to know.
There is nothing worse than celebrating completetion of something and not have the work really completed. It is like graduating without having all the course work handed in.
You are not done until you are done.
According to studies, 92% of New Years Resolutions fail. Every year in January people start with hope and hype, believing that this will be the year that delivers a new You. But though 100% start only 8% finish.
There is another stat that states 63% of readers never finish a book they are reading.
I want to remind you this morning these things, to realize how important it is to:
Finish what you start
Stay focused until finished
Stay Resilient
Stay connected to the Calling
Stay Vigilant to Victories
Stay ready for Deployment
Overall, to finish well!
When you look to scripture you see may references to our walk with God as a race that is to be won, that is one of the reasons for my title today. The finish line is in sight, now what?
But I want to remind you of a verse in
Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”
I want to focus on that word complete. I want you to think about the finish.
Finish what you start
Finish what you start
We have all been told to finish what we have started right down to making sure we eat all that is on our plate no matter what!
Let’s face it. You can have great vision, pray Godly prayers , choose the right goals, and focus on the right things. All looks great. You can also pursue big dreams but if you don’t finish what you’ve started it is like living in a house without a roof.
Take a look at scripture: many leaders were simply mentioned in the text without details and you may be surprised to learn only 49% of prominent leaders in Scripture whose lives were surveyed as a whole. Out of those 49% only 30% finished well. This is something that when I looked at really jolted my heart.
Some leaders like Samson and Eli stumbled at midlife. Others such as Noah, David, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah stumbled near the end.
But thank God for the 30% for people like Joshua, Daniel, Peter and Paul - who enjoyed walking with God in increasing intimacy throughout their days.
The greatest finisher in the Bible is Jesus! His entire life and ministry was motivated by His committment to finish the work His Father gave Him to accomplish:
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Jesus was focused on the finish.
Stay Focused until you are Finished
Stay Focused until you are Finished
Anyone who played sports know that part way through the game the coach gets all the players together to give them a pep talk. To ensure their heads are in the game, to get them geared up to win, to keep them focused on the finish.
One of the great finishers in the Bible was Solomon, King David’s son. The word finish and Solomon seem to go hand in hand.
Take a look at all the references associated with Solomon and completeing his assignment to build God’s house. There are a lot, trust me I won’t list them all. Solomon was a total, complete, absolute finisher.
When it came to building God’s temple Solomon finished it all. He left nothing undone. Perhaps it was because his father King David challenged him in 1 Chronicles to do so.
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.
I think we take for grated the difficult challenge of finishing.
When you start a project its exciting, you have burst of energy to do it, its new, etc. etc. Then you may run out of materials, or you have trouble with something. Then the newness and fun wears off and its less interesting to get done. Now its a chore to complete. It’s easy to throw it down and give up!
But we need to remember you are not finished until you are finished. You are not done until it is all done! So stay focused all the way through because it is not over until its over.
Keep your eyes on the goal. Run through the finish line tape and then celebrate!
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Stay Resilient
Stay Resilient
Approach the end with resilience.
Many of us look forward to the day we get to retire. Do we think we will put up our feet and that will be it?
Is it retiring or refiring?
Do we retire every night at bedtime and wake in the morning eager to find out what God has for us to do that next day?
Retirement is seen as the final rotation in the cycle of life.
Retirement made little sense when the average age of life expectancy was 30 or 40 years.
But today all our life we pay a bit of money towards our retirement then when we approach that golden age of 65 we can retire and our culture is geared to accomodate it.
This morning take a look at scripture and see what the Bible talks about retirement.
“This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites.”
Now this is exciting!
While the Levite tabernacle workers were taught to retire at the age of 50 they were not put out to pasture to spend the rest of their lives twiddling their thumbs and gazing at a sundial.
They were CHARGED to minister to the younger Levites who took over their jobs!!!
They became mentors and advisors!
What a great cycle of life for the church!
I am not saying forget the Old age security pension benefits. But what I am saying is avoid the word retirement!
Look at it like this retirement is simply God’s way of freeing you up for further service!
Stay Connected to your Calling
Stay Connected to your Calling
Each one of us has a calling. Calling is not just for those who are in full time ministry. Each one of us has been created for a special work and that work is your calling. Stay connected to that calling because it is from God.
There is no “best before” date stamped on your soul.
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.
Os Guinness said this:
“I think it is important to recognize that we can retire from our jobs, but we can never retire from our calling. Calling gives us our sense of task or responsibility, right up to the last day we spend on earth, when we will go to meet our Caller. I think that gives life incredible value and therefore the prosperity of finishing well is that we continue to have a sense of responsibility and engagement that makes each day we live enormously important”.
You may not have a career that you can take with you after you retire, but if you are a follower of Christ you have a calling. You have a gift. God has given you an ability for service. So keep using it for the Lord.
When we look back over our lives we need be able to look back through the things we have done and smile not with pride but because we did it for His glory and to know that the calling you lived was fulfilled.
Dr. Jeremiah Sr. said it well about his retirement “I have been clipping coupons from a lifetime of investment”.
When Jesus had finished his work on earth and was about to be crucified, resurrected and return to heaven, he prayed this summary statement about His life.
I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.
When you read that did you notice Jesus did not say He finished all the work there was to do? He said He finished all the work that He was GIVEN to do!
There is still more to be done. That is what our prayer should be “Lord, help me to finish the work You have given me to do.
Stay Vigiliant after Victories
Stay Vigiliant after Victories
Finishing well demands vigilance. We cannot let our guard down especially after new adventures or fresh victories.
I believe that is why King David got into trouble with Bathsheba. He had great success, he won every battle against his enemies and created great peace in Israel. But David got careless:
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
King David should have been leading his people and serving at the head of the army but instead he stayed home. He felt that he was at the point in his life where he could relax and let others bear the burden of war. He wasn’t where he should have been and he wasn’t doing what he should have been doing.
David celebrated his victories without really being done. He wasn’t vigilant. His sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah was a black stain on David’s life.
While God forgave David and restored him, that one moment of carelessness became a part of his story.
For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.
There was always that reminder of that wrongdoing.
There is another example in that of Elijah. He stood alone on Mount Carmel and called down fire from God upon the prophets of Baal. He personally witness the terrible might and power of the Lord. But then, Queen Jezebel threatened to have him killed and he ran for his life begging God to kill him.
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
There are two verses in scripture we should memorize and keep before us. These verses tell us what to do in order not to fall and remind us of vigilance after victory:
Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
Stay ready for Redeployment
Stay ready for Redeployment
We are called to be watching and wating for His return. In the mean time there is still work to be doing.
Always be looking forward to what the Lord has for you next!
Many people have accomplished great things after the age of retirement:
Pianist-comedian Victor Borge delighted audiences until his death at age 91
Tony Bennett 94 years old continues to perform
Pablo Casals who is 90 years of age and played the cello was asked why he still practices 8 hours a day. His response “I think I am improving”.
Paul the apostle was over 60 made the grueling trip Rome, where he preached, wrote, and taught until his execution four years later. At his conversion 30 years earlier he found his life’s passion. He was doing exactly what he was called to do and it filled his life completely.
Illustration:
Peal Buck, a write and daughter of missionionaries to China said “I have a honorable position in life because I am far more useful as a person than I was 50 years ago, or 40 years ago, or thirty or 20 or even 10. I have learned so much since I was 70”.
Don’t give up on life too early.
Don’t deprive yourselve of the many blessings God wants to bestow upon your life no matter what age you are.
Change what you must but don’t stop your service to the Lord.
Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah 90 when they became the parents of Isaac (Gen. 18:11)
Zacharias and Elizabeth were considered old and advanced in years when they had John the Baptist. (Luke 1:18)
Joshua is also described as old and advanced in years prior to that description he received his marching orders to enter the land of God’s promise. (Josh. 13:1)
The point is when God calls you up be ready and don’t worry about your age, abilities or detials. He is with you!
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.
Conclusion:
Read Illistration page 167-168
For many today we are afraid of what saying yes to next steps means. God will not call you up and leave you. He equips every step you take. He doesn’t leave you alone.
Stepping out and following the Lord is the best step you will ever make!
Salvation or Obedience to next steps He’s got you covered.
He is Lord
Sing Your Still Lord!
