They Finished Well; Will We?
Over the past few weeks, several people I have known at different stages of my life have passed away. A 98-year-old widow from our church who was a Scripture memory warrior. Listening to the testimonies of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren at her funeral I was reminded of her godly impact on so many lives. A young man who went to elementary school with my oldest son. Although we moved away many years ago, just reading other's comments of his testimony for the Lord during the four years he battled leukemia was an encouragement to see a young adult faithful through great adversity. Just this last week, my former pastor from my high school and early adult years passed away. To this day, I still remember many of the truths he taught, and as I read through the hundreds of comments from others who were impacted by his life, I was struck with the thought that here is a man who finished well. Each one has caused me to take some time to think about my own mortality, and the legacy I hope to leave behind when I am gone. I was reminded of the Apostle Paul who knew his death was imminent. He wrote to his protégé and son in the faith, Timothy, and assured him:
Paul knew, as he faced the end of his life, that he had finished his course. He had been faithful with the task he had been given. He wasn't leaving behind a job half done. In the verses just before this, he encourages Timothy to continue on in the faith. He didn't have to say, "I'm sorry I'm leaving behind such a mess. Try to pick up the pieces and make the best of it." Instead, he was telling this young man he had mentored and trained, "I was faithful to get this far for the Lord, now you pick up where I'm leaving off and continue the work He gives you.
In contrast, when God delivered the Jews from Egypt, He promised to lead them to the land he had given to their ancestors hundreds of years before. Along the way, under the leadership of Moses, God provided for and protected them in miraculous ways. When they finally came to the banks of the Jordan River, looking across at the land God had promised them, they stopped.
After sending out spies to search the land, the people refused to follow God's instructions to take back the land. Out of fear, they rejected God's "course" for them and wanted instead to return to the land of their servitude. As a punishment for their lack of faith, God gave them what they wanted. Because they refused to go in, He refused to let them for forty years, a year for each of the forty days the spies had spied out the land. During those forty years, all the people over twenty years old died, and their children became adults.
At the end of the forty years, the grown children now stood on the banks of the Jordan River were their parents had stood before them. This time, as Moses addressed them and gave them the charge to go forward and take the land, I am struck by the thought that this was not to have been their battle. If their parents had finished their "course," this next generation would have grown up in peace in the new land. Instead, they had to backtrack and pick up the pieces. They had to face a fight that had not been meant for them.
That thought is sobering. While Paul was faithful and could pass on the baton to Timothy, the Israelites who did not finish well, caused their children to face things that they should not have had to face.
As I think of those who have recently passed away, I am thankful that they have finished well and left us an example to follow. Recently, one of my sons was memorizing a verse for school, and it goes along with this.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a crowd of witnesses,
let us lay aside ever weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us,
Hebrew 12:1
After giving a list of those who had finished their courses well in Hebrews 11, the author then encourages us to take the baton from them and, setting aside any sin or distraction, run our own race well. We aren't told how long our race will be. For some it may be a fifty-yard dash, for others a 5K or 10K run, and for a few it may be a marathon. We're not told what kind of race it will be, either. Perhaps it will be simple laps around a predictable track. Or maybe there will be occasional hurdles to jump as we circle the track. Some might run a cross-country race with uneven ground and rocky terrain. The length or type of race isn't up to us, but how we run is. We are told to run with patience. Another word would be endurance. Endurance in the mundane as well as in adversity.
It may be that God is asking you to faithfully "plod away" at a seemingly uneventful life. Just keep circling the track being a testimony to others of God's goodness and love. Perhaps, God has set an obstacle course before you. Just forge ahead showing others God's sustaining grace and strength. Whether it's a few years or a hundred, may we all finish our course so that those who come after us can pick up where we left off and continue to reflect Christ to a world that so desperately needs to see Him.
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