It's Not How You Start

"But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

1 Corinthians 9:27

"But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Matthew 24:13 It's the end of the game that counts, not the beginning.


King Joash of Judah started out great. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and rebuilt the temple according to all the specifications of the law of Moses. The kingdom was prosperous under him and the people followed God. Then Jehoida the priest died. All too soon Joash forgot the council of this godly man and turned instead to the advice of the elders of the land. The nation soon turned against the Lord and to the worship of idols. Joash's heart was so full of wickedness that he ended up murdering Jehoida's sons whom God sent to warn him to repent. Later on, Joash's own servants murdered him for the brutality he showed to the son's of Jehoida.

King Uzziah was another one who started out well. The Bible says that he sought the Lord and God made him proper in wealth and military strength, so much so that "his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped" until he became strong. When he became strong, his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God." (2 Chronicles 26:15-16) To make a long story short, he got a little too big for his britches. In his pride and delusional self-reliance, he entered the temple to burn incense and the Lord struck him with leprosy. He died a leper. And do you know that neither of these kings were buried in the tombs of the kings. It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

I am a notoriously bad finisher. It is the discipline that the Lord has convicted me of this week. At the beginning of a project, I'm gung-ho, all in, let's do it! But about 60% of the way through, I get distracted or amused with something else. I lost interest in what I started and no longer care about seeing it through to completion. Or I become compulsive about it and take it to an unhealthy level of obsession that occupies my mind constantly in disproportionate ratios to any other thought or consideration. Either way, it's a bad ending. And that is how I have functioned through most of my adult life. . .and not-so adult life.

This one discipline or lack thereof, bleeds into every aspect of my life. Diet, guitar, art, Scripture memory, reading, relationships, ministries. . .even as I put my degree program on hold for a year to come to Potter's Field, I half expected to quit not because God was calling me to leave it but because I'm bored of it.

But you know what I can imagine? In my mind's eye, I can imagine the absolute thrill and ecstasy it must be to hear the voice of Jesus say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest." I want to hear those words. I want to feel the smile of my Father. It will probably be the same scene as when a child presents a picture to their parent. They tried to color in the lines, but the crayons got unruly. The started using "real" colors, but there were so many pretty ones that they just had to use them all. No, I'll never master this thing they call life, but I want to finish it well. Maybe not in first, but I'm sure going to try.

Application: I will finish memorizing Acts 20:22-32