“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”   II Tim.4:7       

The older I get, the more my respect for these words of Paul grows.  When I was young I thought a strong finish was more or less a given for most believers. I don’t believe that anymore. By a long shot.

It is one thing to make one’s mark in ministry. It is a very different thing to finish strong.  Looking back on it, I fear that I spent too many years subtly trying to make a name for myself through ministry. I don’t think that’s all there was to my motivations, but certainly more than I realized at the time. Definitely more than I like to admit.

What seems far more important now is simply a strong finish. To cross the finish line still in hot pursuit of what truly matters – Christ. To spend whatever days are left loving Him like I’ve never loved Him before, depending on Him as I’ve never depended upon Him before, abandoned to Him as I’ve never abandoned myself to Him before. Somehow nothing seems more important at this stage of life. Not sure why. And I just wish it was more consistently true on a day by day basis. Whether there is any recognition of ministry or not seems strangely irrelevant. Just finishing strong seems so alluring these days. One of my favorite quotes comes from an unlikely source…George Bernard Shaw. Though no friend of Christianity, he still put it well:

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”  

Be “thoroughly worn out” for what really matters…finish strong. Let’s pray for each other toward this end.