Beloved: grace and peace be yours immeasurably from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Welcome to another week of the month of November 2021. My prayer is that you will always be strengthened to be a finisher of every good thing you lay your hands on, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
From what we see in the bible about the character of God, He is not someone that starts something He does not intend to finish or have the ability to finish (John 4:34; Phil 1:6; Heb 12:2). So, if He begins any good work in our lives or for our lives, He will surely finish it, if we do not stop Him with our unbelief or lack of character. For example, many of the children of Israel that He brought out of Egypt did not make it into the land of Canaan. Why? Was it because He could not finish what He started? No! Rather, it was because of their unbelief, ingratitude and other manifestations of stubbornness. So, as long as we are not unbelieving or disobedient to God, we can expect Him to finish any good work He starts in us, including that of bringing us safely into His eternal kingdom. (Cf. 1Cor 10:1-12; Heb 3:19)
Now then, since God our Father is a finisher of everything He sets his hands on to do, we too, as His children, must cultivate the culture of finishing every good thing we lay our hands on to do or that we have entrusted to us. Remember that we are told in the bible to be imitators of God, as His dearly loved children (Eph 5:1). So, we must set out to do whatever we want to do, whether for God, for ourselves or for others, with a heart that is ready to see it through to the very end.
Why is this important? First, it is because it is the one that sees the job to the end that will bring to realization the full purpose of what is done. The one that does not finish the job will, to one degree or the other, affect the purpose for which the job is to be done. For instance, if our Lord Jesus had not finished the work God had sent Him to do here on earth, would our salvation have been possible? No! Or if a contractor that is supposed to construct a road does not finish the job, would those that the road is meant to serve enjoy it at all or as they ought to? No! So, when we do not finish any good work we start, we ruin or diminish the enjoyment of the purpose for which it is to be done.
Second, it is the one that gets the job done that is saving resources and time. But the one who starts something and does not finish wastes time, energy, resources and even life. And there are many like that who are nothing but life, resources, time and grace wasters. That is because they don’t ever get to finish any good thing they start. If we are like them, then, we too are wasting ourselves and perhaps others on nothing.
The third reason it is important we cultivate the culture of finishing any good thing we start or that is entrusted to us by men or God is that it is the one that gets the job done that can be trusted with more other jobs. The one that quits has proved something about himself, which is that he lacks the character of a finisher. And such a person, as our Lord points out, is not fit for service in the kingdom of God. Yes, men, sometimes, may overlook this lack of character on his part and still give him new or more responsibilities. But God will not overlook it until he learns to discipline himself to be a finisher of anything he starts (Luke 6:62).
Another reason it is important is that it is the one that finishes the good work he starts that gets rewarded and praised by God and even men. The one who abandons the work for any reason, however reasonable it may appear, won’t get the reward or praise of a finisher. Yes, sometimes, he may be commended by men for trying. But God never commends people for trying to do what He has entrusted to them. Rather, He commends them for getting it done. So, if we want to always receive God’s commendation on whatever He commits to us in life, we must learn to finish and not abandon it (Ex 40:33-34; 1Kings 7:51-8:11)
How, then, do we cultivate the character of a finisher? First, we must learn never to commit ourselves to anything (of God or of man) we have no intention of seeing through to the end. Second, we must always settle down to count the cost of anything we want to commit ourselves to doing before agreeing to embark on it or embarking on it (Luke 14:28-32). That means we must know our limitations and accept them. We must know what we have abilities and resources for and what we do not have abilities and resources for. Otherwise, we will often find ourselves starting things that we have no capacity or determination to finish. And may the Spirit of God strengthen our hearts to take these things seriously, so that we will stop wasting our lives on things that will not earn God’s praise or benefit humanity.
Do have a great week.
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