Finishing Well

When you hear the names, Richard Nixon, Pete Rose, Tanya Harding, or Jimmy Swagert what do you think of? When people talk about Nixon most people do not think of one of Americas premier foreign policy makers, or the inroads made in developing a relationship between the US and China all they remember is Watergate. When people talk about Pete Rose more often than not they don’t remember his great batting records, or his contributions to the game of baseball all they remember is his gambling. When people think of Tanya Harding their first thoughts aren’t of a very talented ice skater who was good enough to represent the US in the Olympics they think of a scandal that occupied the headlines for weeks. When people hear the name Jimmy Swagert they don’t talk about all those people he helped they just remember his visits with prostitutes.

How is it that people get off course? No one I know starts out to fail, to finish poorly but judging from the number of people who’ve started well, but ended up off course I’d say it’s a much easier thing to do than we think. It doesn’t take much to get off course, a moment of weakness, a lapse in judgment, or some bad directions and you’re looking around wondering where you are.

Everyone finishes, but not everyone finishes well. Because I think it makes a difference how we finish, I’d like to share with you one man’s plan for finishing well. His name was Paul and he was a follower of Jesus. One of his great desires was not just to finish but to finish well. Here’s his plan:

12 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

Phil 3:12-14 (NLT)

Paul’s plan involved the following five steps:

He had a goal – Paul’s goal was to live as he was created to. He knew that Jesus’ life had been set before us as an example of the kind of lives we should all be living. Paul understood the goal of his life.

He knew where he was – Paul had taken an honest inventory of his life. He knew that he had not yet reached his goal of living like Jesus. This allowed him to focus on areas of weakness, deal with problems, and watch out for obstacles along the way.

He was willing to work hard – Paul said that he was focusing all his energy and straining to reach his goal. This is a picture of hard work and effort. Paul knew that to reach his goal it would require effort on his part.

He didn’t allow his past to keep him from his future – Paul knew that our pasts can act like an anchor that keeps us from moving forward. Our past failures can paralyze us into inactivity and our successes can take our eyes off the goal. Paul was focused on his goal and refused to allow his past good or bad to keep him from reaching it!

He believed the goal was worth the effort – Paul was convinced that his destination was worth the effort. In fact just before the above quote Paul said that he considered everything else garbage in comparison to reaching his goal (cf. Phil. 3: 8)

Everyone finishes this race called life. The only real choice we have is how we finish. If you want to finish well, you have to know your goal, know where you are, be willing to do what’s necessary to get there, let go of your past, and believe your destination is worth the effort.

Pressing On
Dale