Finish the Race

      I haven't been able to blog lately, as I have spent way too much time and money seeing different doctors and having tests run.  I woke up on this Sunday morning feeling about as bad as I imagine a human can feel and still live, and I began to ponder the Apostle Paul's words in 2 Timothy 4.  Paul was facing the end of his life - the end of his journey.  He said, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come."  Paul knew what he faced, and, as he did in everything else, he faced it in the context of who he was in Christ.  Then he did what we all do from time to time, he looked back to take stock of his life.  Had he done what he was put here to do?  Had he been faithful to God and His word?  Had he made a difference in the lives of the people he interacted with?
         After pondering all of this, he then wrote, "I have  fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."  What a testimony!  To look back over your life and to honestly be able to say, "I have no regrets.  I did my best to do what was right, to impact others' lives for God, to exalt Christ in everything" - that is the way I want to finish.
       While finishing well should be the desire of every Christian, it doesn't just happen.  It is decided by the choices we make everyday - years before we ever get near the finish line.  It is the way I choose to parent, the way I treat my spouse, the way I serve others. It is decided by my obedience, (or disobedience) to His word. When He says go, do I go? When I have sin in my life, do I let it continue to entangle me, or do I turn from it so I can run with endurance this race which has been marked out before me (Hebrews 12)?
        So as I ponder Paul's words at the end of his life,  it causes me to ask myself, "What am I doing to insure that when I get to that last stretch of the race, whenever that will be, that I will be able to say I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, and I have kept the faith."  If all of us would live our lives with that in mind, what kind of legacy would we leave behind?  A life with no regrets; a life that matters.
       I may not have run as well as I would've liked up to this point, but today is a new day - a new beginning.  I can choose that from this day forward, I will run in a manner as to win (1 Corinthians 9:24).

      You may or may not have started well, but by the grace of God - finish well.

       Grace and peace to you in Christ