Here's the deal:
I have made a decision folks. A decision that I hope in reading about you will be encouraged to make as well. You see, throughout the Bible there are stories of great men. These were men who had gifts, talents, and abilities far above what normal men had. (I'm saying men because I'm a man. If you are a girl, don't be silly; just switch it to girl stuff.) Men like Saul, David, Samuel, Joshua, Esau, Solomon, Caleb, Daniel, Nehemiah, Abraham, Peter, Paul, Timothy, Stephen, John, and James. All of these men are amazing men. They are all known for their accomplishments, although some more than others. There is a distinction between these men though. Some were finishers. All had callings, all had dreams, all had gifts, all had God behind them, all had abilities, but some of these men held true ‘til the end and others didn't.
Take for example Saul. He had every God given natural talent and ability that a man could have. He stood head and shoulders above everyone else. He was a handsome man. He was a strong man of valor, who came from a good home, had a good father, and a strong family life. He had a tremendous calling to be the first king of
Take for another example David. Wow, I mean here we have a truly prime example. David was truly a man after God's own heart. A man after God's own heart!!!! He slew the giant, killed the bear and lion, honored his father, was obedient to tend the flock, wrote a ton of Psalms, righteously submitted himself to Saul the king even when he didn't deserve it, was victorious in battle for the Lord, and recovered the Ark of the Covenant just to name a few of his accomplishments. Sounds like a pretty great man, huh? BUT, he started to compromise. Instead of being on the battle field with his men where the king should've been, he was at home. He saw Bathsheba bathing and watched. He committed adultery, and had a man murdered. One thing after the other his compromises and sins grew bigger and bigger. David was truly a great king and man of God, but in the end his family was in disarray (one of his sons raped his sister, and then he was murdered by another one of David's sons who in turn was slain), and he wasn't allowed to build God's temple. David didn't fail to the extent of Saul, but he didn't finish all of what God had called him to do because he compromised.
Esau is the last bad example I'm going to use. Esau was a huge and powerful man. Firstborn of his family he was entitled as a birthright to the inheritance of his father's house. He was going to get it all. His father was a wealthy man, who God had blessed very much, and that wealth and blessing would be his some day, and all he had to do was wait and be patient for it. BUT he didn't. He traded all of his dreams, all of his hopes, all of his wealth, and the best blessing for a bowl of soup. He was living for the present instead of sacrificing for the future. He didn't have his mind set on accomplishing his dreams, and he gave them away for a bowl of soup!!!!!!!! Goodness! We look at him and say, “Wow, was he ever stupid," but how many times have I made compromises and traded some amazing future blessing for some lesser thing in the present? More than I care to admit! Esau knew what he was trading. He knew what he was giving up for that bowl of soup, and due to Esau's attitude, his brother Jacob (
Abraham was known as the friend of God. He was willing to sacrifice his one and only son because God called him to do it. He completely left everything familiar to him to find a land in the wilderness that God had called him to. His faith was so great that it was counted to him as righteousness. Wow.
Stephen delivered a message so powerful and moving that the Lord Jesus Himself gave it a standing ovation. (The Word tells us that after the resurrection Jesus took His place seated at the right hand of the Father. Acts
Joshua and Caleb were both finishers as well. Out of the twelve spies that went to spy out the Promised Land, they were the only ones who trusted the Lord to be with them. They stood firm on their stance even when the people were about to stone them, and they continued to believe God for the promised land as they wandered in the wilderness for another 40 years. Then, when the time came for them to take the Promised Land, they took it by force. No matter how great the foe, they trusted God to fight on their behalf.
Peter had passion. He was the only one to jump out of the boat and onto the water, but he was also dumb enough to rebuke Jesus! Even when he had denied Jesus three times and cussed a girl out the third time he did it, read on into Acts. His shadow healed people. Later he wrote two books of the Bible. He was crucified upside down because he said that he wasn't worthy to die in the manner that His Lord had. Peter made many mistakes! He denied that he knew who Jesus was, but He finished because he loved the Lord and had a passion for His people. Read John 21. Look at the passion and love that Peter had for the Lord. He jumped out of the boat and beat it to shore to see Jesus, and he said not once, but three times that he loved the Lord. He might not have started off in the finest of manners, but he finished!
Paul. Paul was the greatest of all apostles and the worst of sinners. He was truly one of the heroes of our faith. Paul's first record of existence in the Bible was at the stoning of Stephen. He looked on with approval as those men stoned Stephen. He then is recorded as making it his goal to destroy the Church. His job was to find every believer that he could so that they could be brought to Jerusalem to stand trial. BUT, look at how he finished. Read the New Testament and take note of the number of miracles that accompanied Paul. Demons were cast out, people were saved right and left, jail doors were flung open, and the list goes on and on. He was stoned, he was whipped, he was persecuted, he was thrown in jail, he was wrongfully accused, and beheaded for his faith and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. He truly ran the race that was set before him so not only as to run in the race, but to receive the prize.
Time would fail me if I told of the great finishers such as Daniel who braved the lion's den, Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, John who Jesus loved, Enoch who walked with the Lord in the cool of the day, Elijah who never saw death, Job (nuff said), and all of the Saints who have given their lives and all that they had to accomplish the calls that God has put on their lives.
I'm not perfect. I fail everyday, but by the Grace of my God I will not fear man, I will not compromise, and I will focus on my dream until it has been accomplished. I will trust God when I have no physical reason to, I will forgive, I will hope, I will be passionate, I will be hungry for God, and I will believe in Him. There is no way that I will ever be able to accomplish any of this on my own, and that is why I need the Lord so much. He is my strength, and every good thing that is in me is because of Him. I may not do a perfect job, and I will make mistakes (I'M HUMAN!!) but I will fight, I will struggle, and I will never quit. It is my life's goal to be a finisher.
I finish with this quote, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." This is true of my life's goals. I will struggle no matter what the result.
