A few years after we moved to Albion, we were able to purchase the home we were renting. The home needed updates, major fixes, and a vision for a new look. My mother-in-law helped us create a plan and the day after we signed the mortgage paperwork and deed, we tore off the roofing material, pulled up the dusty carpet, gutted one of the bathrooms, and began to tear down a few unnecessary walls to create a more open-floor plan. We were on task to get our house to fit the plan. Yet, twelve years later, the plan is not completed. We still have some walls that need new sheetrock and some painting that needs finished.
Plans on paper tend to bring us motivation, visions for a new way, and a hope that once completed, our lives will be better, more aesthetically pleasing, and more robust. Yet, too often in my life, I find my path littered with unfinished plans. Ideas that once held a deep passion inside me, were set aside for a new idea, a new “shiny penny,” and the promise I might come back to the plan later.
In Hebrews 12:1 we read, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” This image of a race to be run, reminds me of days when I would go out to compete in track. The plan was clear: run the track for the distance I was prescribed. There was no thought or idea that I would stop or change directions mid-race. Likewise, it reminds me of the jump ball at the beginning of the basketball game that started a plan to score more points than the other team. Again, I could not stop the game and come back tomorrow. I could take a break (i.e. a timeout), but overall, I had to stick to the plan.
Life is similar when we consider our beginning and our end. We each know there will come a day when this life will be complete: our race will be to the finish line. Paul brings this to light when he writes, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25). We want to finish our life well and in many ways, we want to leave a legacy to those with whom we have been in relationship.
As we continue to consider words for the year, I am working with the word “Finish” as a focus. Whether it is my house that needs more work; or the book I have in my head to write; or the promised trip; or the daily tasks in front of me, I want to live my life in such a way that unfinished projects and promises come to completion. I want to pick up those set aside projects or those new ideas that I started, but let fall to the wayside. I want to see my promises to their fulfillment. I want to grow deeper in my relationship with Christ and not become complacent (see previous devotion about Disturb).
How is God calling you to finish well? How is God calling you to see a project or a promise to its completion in this new year? How is God calling you to “run the race” with endurance?
Let’s work together to be people who finish well in this new year.
Prayer: Lord, I give up too easily and allow projects and promises to fall to the wayside. Forgive me for my lack of endurance. Help me persevere in this New Year to be a person of finishing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.