Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.
There are certain times of the year that my students are tempted to coast to the finish line. This is one of those times. When we return from a break at Thanksgiving, there are a couple of weeks and then Midterm exams. It is a test of character for middle school students to stay the course until Christmas break. Often there is a drop in grades because they are thinking about the upcoming holiday and not have the grit to finish strong. I cannot count how many times I have reminded them that people who start strong are "a dime a dozen." The people who finish strong are the exceptions.
As I am approaching 60 on my next birthday, I must ask myself the question…Am I coasting or am I running with endurance to the finish line? Many people my age are looking forward to a mythical retirement. It is the dream of most Americans to quit work one day and begin to live out our dreams. We want to travel to far away places. We envision that we will have "time" to finally start to living because our 40-50 hour a week job keeps us busy and too exhausted to do anything else. We must be careful to not coast towards a perceived finish line.
The finish line is not retirement from a job. The finish line is when I meet my Lord Jesus Christ face to face. At that point, I will be crossing the finish line and not a minute before.
The finish line is not retirement from a job. The finish line is when I meet my Lord Jesus Christ face to face. At that point, I will be crossing the finish line and not a minute before.
God's word is clear. We will reap whatever we have sown. I can not bear the thought that I will face a crop of weeds due to my selfish habits. I want to finish strong. Even though I may become weary and want to quit or slow down because of age, God promised that I will harvest a good crop if I persist.
I want to run with endurance the race that is set before me and not quit a minute too soon!
'We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall.' Hebrews 12:1
'We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall.' Hebrews 12:1
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