Last night I watched two great football teams play from the opening kick all the way down to the final whistle and I thought how often do you see a team jump out to a big lead and then change what they were doing? The wasn't over, but suddenly they move to a conservative offense or defense, with the belief that the game is already won.
Now I won't tell you that either Alabama or Clemson quit or went conservative. They all played their hearts out and finished the game. But I can recall countless times when I have seen teams stop doing the things that got them there only to end up losing and have this shocked look on their face. They would be far ahead by three or four touchdowns and their defense would back off into a prevent defense trying to stop the big play. But before you knew it, the opposing team had scored two or three touchdowns and all of the sudden they have made what seemed like a sure fire lopsided loss into a competitive game. You would think that the team that is up three scores would keep playing the same tough defense that got them there in the first place and that has made them successful, persevering to the end of the game until it is won. Basically they would finish. There is always something left to be done, right until the very end.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing." 2nd Timothy 4:7-8 ESV
The verses above come from the apostle Paul written to Timothy (and to us) encouraging us to stay strong to the end of the fight. The fight isn't over yet, the race isn't won, but what a day that it will be when we can stand face to face with Jesus and say that we persevered to the end! And then we will hear the words that all Christians long to hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant!"
Note also that the prize isn't for accomplishments we had here on earth. The prize is for remaining faithful. There is nothing you or I can do to "earn" or "achieve" the prize. No matter how many wins we have or the money that we can make over the span of our professional careers, we can never do enough to earn our prize. The prize is the crown of righteousness that He will give us when He returns for finishing the real race of our lives and remaining faithful to Him no matter the cost.
The race is different for each of us, but it is our job to run it until the end. We may start off slow and that is ok what matters is that we persevere and FINISH!
Now I won't tell you that either Alabama or Clemson quit or went conservative. They all played their hearts out and finished the game. But I can recall countless times when I have seen teams stop doing the things that got them there only to end up losing and have this shocked look on their face. They would be far ahead by three or four touchdowns and their defense would back off into a prevent defense trying to stop the big play. But before you knew it, the opposing team had scored two or three touchdowns and all of the sudden they have made what seemed like a sure fire lopsided loss into a competitive game. You would think that the team that is up three scores would keep playing the same tough defense that got them there in the first place and that has made them successful, persevering to the end of the game until it is won. Basically they would finish. There is always something left to be done, right until the very end.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing." 2nd Timothy 4:7-8 ESV
The verses above come from the apostle Paul written to Timothy (and to us) encouraging us to stay strong to the end of the fight. The fight isn't over yet, the race isn't won, but what a day that it will be when we can stand face to face with Jesus and say that we persevered to the end! And then we will hear the words that all Christians long to hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant!"
Note also that the prize isn't for accomplishments we had here on earth. The prize is for remaining faithful. There is nothing you or I can do to "earn" or "achieve" the prize. No matter how many wins we have or the money that we can make over the span of our professional careers, we can never do enough to earn our prize. The prize is the crown of righteousness that He will give us when He returns for finishing the real race of our lives and remaining faithful to Him no matter the cost.
The race is different for each of us, but it is our job to run it until the end. We may start off slow and that is ok what matters is that we persevere and FINISH!
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