Finish Well
When Paul looked back on his life, though certainly it had not been perfect, yet he could still say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7) If Paul had a tombstone this would undoubtedly have been the epitaph. What a testimony! What a witness! What a statement! To look back on your life and to say there was no remorse, no regret, and no retreat.
For all of his Christian life Paul had been in a state of war. He faced three foes: the world, the flesh, and the Devil. It was literally a fight to the finish. No quarter was asked and none was given. Paul had been a good soldier, and he had the battle scars to prove it.
I thought of a hymn we sang as a young boy:
Should I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage Lord!
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by thy word.
God has given each one of us our own race, our own course, our own track. God is not concerned with how fast you run, but how far you run. It's not how you start the race, it's how you finish the race that counts with God.
FATHER GOD,
I pray that I will run the race faithfully and finish well.
In Jesus name AMEN.
