Finishing Well

When Billy Graham was asked the question, “What has been the greatest surprise of your life?”, he answered, “The brevity of it.” That is so true. Time passes quickly, and we don’t want to squander this precious thing that God has given to us called life. Over the years, I have been surprised by some people that I thought were going to do great things for God, but actually fell away from Him. I have also been surprised by people that I thought would never make it as a Christian, but are now serving the Lord with great effectiveness.

It’s important to remember that we are not mere victims without any say-so as to whether or not we are going to do well spiritually. We need to realize that people fall away because they choose to. By that I mean, their spiritual failure usually isn’t a result of a deliberate decision to backslide. Rather, it’s the result of wrong choices they make in life that lead to a spiritual breakdown. If you want to make it in the Christian life, then you are going to make it. Jude 1 says, “To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.” The original language used the perfect tense. The nearest equivalent of it is, “They are continually kept by Jesus Christ.” Whatever difficulties you are facing today as a believer, you are preserved in Christ. He is going to keep you.

I am thankful for those people I know who have started well, are doing well, and look as though they will cross life’s finish line with flying colors. I want to be one of those people. Don’t you?