Finishing well

 

When I was in 8th grade, I had an art teacher who told us that if we took a picture and broke it up into sections, we could easily draw whatever the picture was. I was so excited because I’ve never been artistic at all, but I’ve always wanted to be, so I thought this was perfect. So I found this huge picture of a unicorn, did all the squares like she said, and got started on my picture. I did the first square and realized it was going to be a lot harder than I thought—and then, I never finished it. I learned the hard way that saying you are going to do something is easy, but following through is what actually matters.

All of us have at times said we were going to do something only to fall short of that thing for any number of reasons. Everyone who is a Christian knows that falling short in life is what brings us to Christ, and then we make a commitment to follow Him. This commitment, of course, isn’t like anything else that we say we’re going to do; it’s actually a submitting and surrendering to Jesus and His will. But what happens when we just say the words but don’t actually live them out? In the book of Matthew, we see Jesus confronting this very issue and reminding all of us that living it out—and finishing right—is what matters. 

In Matthew Chapter 21:28–32 we see this: “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”

Here we see Jesus bringing some much-needed clarity to the religious leaders who think they can somehow trip him up with their questions. Their hearts had gotten so hard from vain religion that they couldn’t see the Messiah standing before them, the one they claimed they had been waiting for. Because living for God had become something only in word for them, whenever they saw someone actually living out the scriptures that they claimed to believe, they couldn’t even see their own hypocrisy. Jesus is showing them so very plainly that unless you do AND finish what you say, then those words mean nothing. Even more, He was showing them that the people they were looking down on may not have started the right way, but they would end up finishing the right way. 

See, these religious guys had said all the right things but never actually lived it out, while the people who did all the wrong things saw their need for forgiveness and turned to God. Jesus came for the very people, like you and me, who see their need for forgiveness and turn to God and receive the gift that only he can offer—grace and forgiveness of sins. See, in the end it won’t be about how you started; it will be about what you did with the gift that God offers and whether or not you actually received it or just talked about it. We need to remember that faith is lived out in word AND deed in a life that honors God and keeps us moving forward, committed to Him so that we can finish well. 

"If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.” — C.S. Lewis

Today, if you are here and you say yeah, I’m a Christian, but…stop right there and ask yourself one question. If I died tonight and opened my eyes on the other side of life, would I be welcomed home? If you don’t know, make today that day of assurance. Turn to Jesus and allow Him to forgive your sins.