Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Keep Your Eyes on the Finish Line

You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

—Galatians 5:7

I don’t like puffy biographies that read like a promo piece, telling the story of an individual who did no wrong. Rather, I like to read biographies that tell me about someone’s strengths and weaknesses, their foibles and their shortcomings. I can’t relate to a perfect person, because I’m not one.

One of the things I appreciate about the Bible is that it’s such an honest book. It gives us its heroes, warts and all. It tells story after story of those who flourished spiritually at first, but then they withered. There are so many who had great potential, but then they crashed and burned.

Saul, the first king of Israel, comes to mind in that regard. He appeared to have all the right qualities. He was charismatic. He was handsome. He was tall. He was sharp. He had a certain humility about him. Most importantly, God’s Spirit had come upon him and anointed him for the task at hand.

After he became the king of Israel, everything was going well for a relatively short time. But Saul allowed himself to give way to pride, paranoia, and jealousy. It consumed him, and he met an untimely end on the battlefield.

Saul essentially wrote his own epitaph when he said, “Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly” (1 Samuel 26:21). How true that was. He threw it all away.

If you want to finish well, then here is what it comes down to: It comes down to you. What do you want to do? God wants every one of us to finish the race and fulfill our ministry. The question is do you want to do it? Do you want to cross the finish line? If so, you will. If not, you won’t. It’s entirely your choice.