Finishing Well

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"  2 Timothy 4:7

Remember when you were a child and a year seemed like an eternity? Do you remember the feeling that Christmas or your birthday would never get here? But, now it seems I barely get the decorations put away or the candles blown out, and another year has passed. You have probably figured out by now; I have a birthday coming up.

I realize the significant part of my life is now behind me. Believe me; there are many things that remind me of this fact every day. Beverly LaHaye said, "Thank God my happiness doesn't come from my joints but from my heart." To that, I can say a resounding amen!

Growing older has required me to make adjustments such as singing in lower keys, and sometimes even slowing down the ninety miles per hour Pentecostal tempo! Instead of dwelling on what I have or have not done in my life, my main focus now is to "finish well."

Shirley Boone, the wife of singer and actor Pat Boone, passed away this year. It would appear that she was a remarkable Christian woman. At her memorial service, she was eulogized as a mother who raised four daughters amid the sin, wealth, and privilege of Beverley Hills, and yet they all became caring, unspoiled, women of God. She was also praised as a woman of great charitable works, and someone who shared the gospel with everyone from celebrities, to the boy who bagged her groceries.

In the last years of her life, Shirley Boone became homebound. But according to those who knew her, that did not stop her ministry. From her chair, Shirley would call people to encourage and pray for them. People would come to her home for prayer and counsel, and from her chair, Shirley would minister to them. She did this until the day she could no longer speak. By all accounts, Shirley Boone is an example of someone "finishing well."

My dad is another example of someone who finished well. He spent his life serving the Lord, encouraging and loving people. He never had an unkind word to say about anyone. In 2002, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. A tumor on his spine left him paralyzed from the waist down. He lived for four months after his diagnosis.

During those months, my dad had a lot of visitors. From his bed or chair, he would encourage and pray for them. His mind was never on himself or his suffering. About two days before he died, my dad was telling my brother and a young, visiting minister, that they needed to go pray with his friend, who also had cancer.   Henry Lipps finished well.

During the 1700s, John Wesley was the leader of a revival movement within the church of England known as Methodism. He traveled 250,000 miles by horseback or on foot to preach. He preached forty thousand sermons, produced four hundred books, and knew ten languages. At the age of eighty-three, John was annoyed that he couldn't write more than fifteen hours a day without hurting his eyes. At eighty-six, he was ashamed that he couldn't preach more than twice a day but did admit that there was an increasing tendency to lie in bed until 5:30 A.M.

Wesley died on March 2, 1791, at the age of eighty-seven. As he was dying, he lifted his arms and said to friends gathered around him, "Farewell, farewell, the best of all is, God is with us." John Wesley finished well.

Several years ago, the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing for the national championship of college football at the Fiesta Bowl. Just before his team left the locker room, head coach Jim Tressel gathered them for one final talk. After going over the game plan, Tressel asked his team one simple question, " How do you want to be remembered?"

It must have worked because when the game was over, the Buckeyes had pulled off one of the great upsets in recent memory. They defeated the Miami Hurricanes, and in the process, ended their 34-game winning streak.

How do you want to be remembered?

It's not how well we start that matters, but how well we finish.

When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to Timothy, he did not dwell on the past. Paul did not start well. Before his conversion, he was a persecutor of Christians, and he was also present at the stoning death of early church martyr Stephen. Paul knows his finish line is in sight, and he says with confidence, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." The faithful, old apostle was ready to claim his reward for "finishing well."

"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day." 2Timothy 4:8a

John "the Penguin" Bingham is a well-known marathon runner. He was once asked the secret to his success. Bingham answered, "As I stand at the starting line, I know that somewhere out there is a finish line."

There is a finish line for everyone, and none of us know when that will be. God added seventeen years to my life when He healed me of cancer in 2002. I realize my life was spared for a purpose; I have tried my best not to squander this precious time,

I have no idea how close my finish line is, but as long as I have strength, I will keep studying, teaching, singing, playing the piano, and encouraging God's people. My maternal grandmother lived to be one hundred and one. From her chair, she was able to give Godly counsel and great pearls of wisdom to her grandchildren.

Growing old does not have to mean we can no longer be useful for the Lord. It does mean that we may have to acknowledge we cannot effectively do what we have done in the past, and find some other way to work for the Lord, even if it's from our chair. We can finish well!

The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the one who finished first; It was the one who finished with his torch still lit.

How do I want to be remembered?

The things we have accomplished in this life will matter little if we fail to finish well.

May those who come behind me say, "Patty finished with her torch still lit."

"The measure of a life is not its duration, but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom