Are You a Finisher?

 

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Are you a finisher, do you stay with the project until the outcome has reached the vision you had for it?  What makes an instrument have both market value and intrinsic value, for example the violin, why would the designs of Stradivari, Guarneri, and Amati, hold such great value? “What many people do not realize is that Italy's old masters and their followers designed each individual instrument with slight but significant variations in the arching, the thickness of the top, back, and ribs, the overall dimensions, and the placement of f-holes.” (By Reginald Williams)  It was in the details, they more than likely had many designs, many-bought lesson (failures), before the vision, the project was finished and the design has proven to hold both market and intrinsic value over time.

Many a person has begun a project with great enthusiasm only to lay it aside, never to finish the vision they had begun with such passion.  We all have examples of not completing the project, for many it has been marriage, or raising children, and for so many who are called Christian, it is finishing strong, looking for the crown of righteousness that the apostle Paul is referring to in 2 Timothy 4:8.

The Scriptures tell us that without a vision the people perish, what is your vision for finishing this great Christian race?  The Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul had this to say to all of us in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

I believe the trend in dropping out of the Christian race and the trend of obesity in the United States have an unusual comparison over the last 20 years, from 1985–2010.  Both have one thing in common, an undisciplined life.

“During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of 30% or more.”  (Quote from the CDC Website)  As a nation and as a culture and as Christians, we have become people who blame someone else for our lack of discipline, but the Holy Spirit says this; “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:19)  For a Christian to finish strong, requires keeping your eyes on Jesus, and remembering to walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice