Completion!

I love finishing a task, standing back to enjoy the reward for my work. One of the Summer tasks that gives me great pleasure is mowing my lawn. About 2 hours of perspiration trickling down my face and noise from tractor and trimmer filling my ears gives the me the opportunity to stand back and look over 1.5 acres of lawn that gives evidence of the effort. Not all ‘rewards’ are so immediate, are they?  

My adult children give me great joy as I hear of the ways in which they are making their corners of the world better places. They are productive people, building good lives, growing their own families. And, I remember the struggles, now 3 decades past, of dealing with teens who did not always make the best choices! Even though we had really good kids there was more than a little effort involved in helping them become responsible adults.

A couple of days ago I wrote of being ‘pointing in the right direction’ which is important.
Staying on track requires keeping our eyes on the prize, setting goals and anticipating results.

Christian, what reward do you desire most?  Wealth? Recognition? Respect? Pleasure? Enjoying a good life is a wonderful blessing and we should be grateful for those days when life is going well!  Ecclesiastes recommends that we enjoy the ‘fruit of our labor,’ that we savor life. However, the ultimate rewards of the faithful will only come in Heaven.  

Remember those great faith stories summed up in the 11^th chapter of Hebrews? The writer celebrates the victories of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others.  In last part of that chapter the tone changes and we are reminded that not all the ‘wins’ come in this lifetime. Some, the writer says, " were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us." (Hebrews 11:38-40, NLT)

But all, those who were healed, who conquered their foes, as well those who died waiting in hope, share a common call with us: "Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in.

Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! " (Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message)

As we live our faith, run this race, we can get distracted, discouraged, or disillusioned- losing sight of the finish line and dropping out. Some quit on God altogether like Paul’s friend Demas who abandoned the faith because “he loved this present world.”  Others allow themselves to be compromised by sin, deceived by the allure of rewards, tangible and present.  The only way to stay in the race is to ‘keep your eyes on Jesus.’   

The length of our life here on this earth – be it 40, 70, or 90 years – is nothing in light of Eternity.  Keep your eyes on the goal! Anticipate the rewards of Heaven which Christ Jesus promises us.

Here is the word from the Word. Do you believe it? "For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:53-54, NLT)  "So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NLT)

God, I want to finish the race well!  And, we will – by His grace!

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Sing The Wondrous Love Of Jesus

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus

Sing His mercy and His grace

In the mansions bright and blessed

He'll prepare for us a place

 

When we all get to heaven

What a day of rejoicing that will be

When we all see Jesus

We'll sing and shout the victory

 

While we walk the pilgrim pathway

Clouds will overspread the sky

But when trav'ling days are over

Not a shadow not a sigh

 

Let us then be true and faithful

Trusting serving ev'ry day

Just one glimpse of Him in glory

Will the toils of life repay

 

Onward to the prize before us

Soon His beauty we'll behold

Soon the pearly gates will open

We shall tread the streets of gold

 

Eliza Edmunds Stites Hewitt | Emily Divine Wilson

Words: Public Domain

Pointed in the right direction

Some days I feel like I make great progress and some days it seems that the best I can do is to just hold my ground. How about you?  One thing that living longer has taught me is to evaluate progress, not in days but in years! It’s like that diet we start with the goal of losing 10 pounds.  That first week we are so careful about the calories, avoid those snacks, and limit the portions. When we step on the scale and realize that we have only lost a couple of pounds, our determination wavers. Or, is that just me? 

I remember being 30 years of age and counseled by an older man to start a retirement account.  At the time it was a struggle to find enough money to make the car payment and clothe our kids!  His advice was to make a regular contribution of the same amount every pay period, increasing it as income grew. Those first contributions were laughably small but we did it. Four decades later I look at an account that can help sustain me because of regular deposits and the miracle of compounding interest. It is there for this season of my life!  That advice pointed me in the right direction.

Are you moving in the right direction spiritually? These words of St. Paul give me great hope for they reveal that even that giant of faith knew that his life was a work in progress. "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but
I press on
to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:10-14, NIV)

 

His lofty goal, a great one for all of us, was to ‘know Christ’ identifying with Him in suffering and eventually gaining eternal life through God’s grace. His life was aimed toward eternity for he knew, as we should, that while we may enjoy blessings today, though we may endure seasons of terrible loss or suffering, the ultimate hope is God’s gift of an eternal home. Paul certainly did not retreat from engagement with life here in this world, hoping to just ‘hang on’ until his arrival in heaven. He was faithful in service, willing to work for the Lord, focused on doing God’s will.

But, he also is honest in his admission: “not that I have already attained all this or have been made perfect.”  He went through things for which he had no explanation. He failed to achieve what he desired sometimes. In Romans 7 he tells us that he experienced real spiritual struggles.  "It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge." (Romans 7:21-23, The Message)  In spite of being pointed in the right direction, there are detours and distractions that derail his progress.

So, does he quit? Not at all. He says twice “I PRESS ON.”  He leans into hope, lets go of regret, and refocuses on God’s goals!  As we begin a new week let’s get our head and heart pointed in the right direction, praying to do God’s work, living lovingly, hopefully, joyful, at peace.  We trip up, have a bad day, lose sight of that goal, let’s get up and ‘press on.’  This life we live is not a sprint to the finish line, it is a ‘long obedience in the same direction.’

Spend a few moments soaking your mind in this word from the Word, then press on! "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 hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven." (Hebrews 12:1-2, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Press On

When the valley is deep

When the mountain is steep

When the body is weary

When we stumble and fall

When the choices are hard

When we're battered and scarred

When we've spent our resources

When we've given our all

In Jesus' name we press on

In Jesus' name we press on

Dear Lord with the prize

Clear before our eyes

We find the strength to press on

 

Dan Burgess

© 1983 Good Life Publications, Inc.

CCLI License # 810055