|
Finish Strong
A
pastor I know put in over 40 years of ministry. On the day of
his retirement, the church celebrated in a big way and gave him
a new automobile and many expressions of their thanks. A few days
later, he announced he was leaving his wife. He divorced her,
moved to another state and married a lady who had been his secretary.
His abandoned wife was left in the town where they had served
so many years to face the world and deal with the broken hearts
and disappointed friends.
Anyone
who spends Saturday afternoons watching football games has seen
this happen. A team starts strong, moving the ball, scoring points,
intimidating the opposition and impressing the fans. But after
a quarter or two, they begin to fizzle. Either their first team
grew tired or the reserves were unprepared or the other team figured
out how to counter them. They lose the game which they had started
so well.
No
one gets credit on the scoreboard for having started well. It's
how you finish that tells the story.
The
fun thing about pulling in an Old Testament story--particularly
one from II Chronicles--is that so few people are familiar with
them. To many, they're hearing these tales for the first time.
The account of King Asa is a perfect illustration for our point.
It begins in II Chronicles chapter 14.
Asa
reigned over the Southern Kingdom of Judah for a total of 41 years.
In introducing him, the writer says rather ominously, "The
land was undisturbed for ten years during his days." (14:2)
He started right. From
the first, Asa earned the approval of the Lord by tearing down
the pagan altars, fortifying his cities, and building up the military.
He spoke words of faith and trust and seemed to have been a good
man. He was humble. When he heard a good sermon, he obeyed it.
In chapter 15, the prophet Azariah preached to the king and the
nation about faithfulness. At the end, Asa responded to the altar
call. "When Asa heard these words and the prophecy which
Azariah spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols...and
restored the altar of the Lord...."
Asa
led the people to make a great sacrifice to the Lord and led them
into a covenant of obedience to God. He put his wicked grandmother
out of business, removing her from the exalted position of queen
mother due to her idolatry.
For
the first 35 years of Asa's reign, things went well. The enemies
left the little nation alone and Asa was like a father to his
people.
Then
things went downhill.
In
the 36th year of Asa's reign, the king of the Northern Kingdom
of Israel, a rascal named Baasha, brought his army up and beseiged
Judah. On paper, Asa should have been ready. He had been building
up his army for years. But when an actual threat loomed, he panicked.
Asa
brought out gold and silver vessels from the Temple of God and
sent them to the king of Syria, Ben-hadad, to buy his support.
It's worth noting that he purchased the protection which God was
offering for nothing, and he used God's vessels to do it. The
Lord was not pleased. Ben-hadad knew a bargain when he saw one
and took the job. His army frightened the Israeli forces and Baasha
called off his little escapade and returned home. That was not,
however, the end of the story. God had something to say.
The
prophet Hanani showed up to tell Asa what the Lord thought of
his foolishness in turning to a foreign, pagan king for security.
In his brief sermon, Hanani uttered one of the great lines of
Scripture: "The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout
the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely
His." (16:9) Reminiscent of the "I could've had a V-8"
television commercial a few years back, the prophet was saying,
"King, you could have had God's favor! It is always available.
But you blew it."
Asa
had been king for so long, he thought the throne was his personal
possession. How dare this prophet criticize him. He grew angry
and arrested Hanani. Then we read, "And Asa oppressed some
of the people at the same time." (16:10) He arrested one
and enjoyed it so much he began to persecute others.
Then
we read, "In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became
diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his
disease he did not seek the Lord...." (16:12)
Bible
students can think of quite a number of scriptural characters
who started well and finished poorly. King Saul may be the most
obvious one in the Old Testament. And who better than Judas in
the New?
"To
finish strong" is an ideal goal for any organization and
any individual. But for a Christian, it's essential. Just on the
other side of the finish line is the prize: Heaven itself and
eternal reward beyond our fondest dreams.
I
have read that trapeze artists and tightrope walkers are in their
greatest peril just before taking that last step to safety. They've
been in the spotlight, done the hard death-defying acts, and now
they are finished. The only thing that remains is to get down
from the heights and accept the applause. But because they let
their guard down and become careless, they are in danger of falling
to their deaths.
Never
let your guard down. In one's middle years, the temptations of
youth are still there but they take other forms. In retirement,
what we call one's golden years, a new set of temptations will
present itself. There is no time in this lifetime to drop one's
guard. We must be eternally vigilant, always faithful.
If
you have stayed with me this far, I have a reward for you.
I'm
going to tell you how to finish this life strong. How to go out
with a flourish.
Live
well and faithfully today. Read your Bible, pray, love everyone,
serve God. Then, if God gives you tomorrow, do the same. If He
grants you another day, then live the same way that day. Eventually,
one day will be your last and you will go out with a flourish.
You will finish strong.
A
famous preacher used to tell of the piano lessons his mother taught
him in childhood. Once, during a recital, he forgot the piece
he was playing in the middle. He fumbled around and found his
way back onto the music he had memorized, but was mortified in
front of the audience. Afterwards, his mother gave him a word
of advice he never forgot and which he applied to the rest of
his life. "When you mess up in the middle of a recital, always
finish with a flourish, and no one will ever remember."
Someone
reading this has lived decades in neglect of God and in pursuit
of your own personal, perhaps selfish dreams. Now, you've come
to the point where you realize the futility of that pursuit, and
you grieve over the wasted years. There's nothing wrong and everything
right with mourning over wrong decisions, misspent resources,
and bad choices. However, there's still time to change. You cannot
go back and undo what you have done, but you can start anew. That's
why the Gospel is good news. It allows you to start over.
A
jeweler working on a diamond slips and cuts the precious gem in
two. He has made a serious mistake and the cost will be enormous.
But we note that he does not throw the two smaller pieces away.
He sets out to shape each of the diamonds into new works of art.
They will be smaller, the value will be less, but they are still
precious jewels of great value.
God
does not discard us when we do wrong. He allows us to repent and
humble ourselves and to begin anew. Even for those of us who have
done poorly for many years, it's still possible to finish strong.
|
