Finishing Well

A very good morning to you! It is Monday morning, a new week - the 25th of April, 2022. And this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

Just one verse this morning... Jesus says:

“I have glorified You on the earth. (He is talking to His Father) I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

John 17:4

God is not interested in good starters, He is only interested in good finishers. We need to finish the task that has been set before us by our Lord. I remember when I was actively farming, sometimes I would prepare the land and prepare a beautiful crop of corn (maize) and tend it with tender loving care. Then a drought would come and the maize would start taking strain, it would start twisting. It would start looking like onions. And I thought a potential disaster was on its way. Some of my neighbours in the past have put the plough in and said, “We will start over again.” But I felt, “No, I must finish what I have started.” And I tended it and I looked after it as best I could and yes, the rain came and the crop grew. Often, it was the best crop that I had ever planted because no one else had any corn and the price went up so we got a good price for our crop. But I finished the job. We need to finish the job that the Lord gives to us.

I just watched something, the 1992 Olympic Games, and I want to tell you something now, I sat there with tears in my eyes. A runner, a 400-metre runner, at the Olympic Games at the top of his game. What an occasion to be selected by your country to run in the Olympic Games - Derek Redmond. The race started, the gun went off and the runners were running. They were so fleet at foot, it was an amazing thing to watch and then halfway through the race, he must have pulled his muscle in his leg and he went down on the track... he lay there in a crumpled heap.

It was devastating, a massive crowd, television right around the world, watching this young man. The next thing, we see a figure coming out of the crowd, running across the track. Yes, it was his dad, picking him up... Oh folks, picking him up, putting his arm around his neck and starting to carry him to the finish-line.

The officials ran across the track, trying to tell his dad to go and sit down. He pushed them aside. “Leave me. I am finishing the race with my son.” A potential tragedy turned out to be, probably, one of the most memorable incidents in the entire history of the Olympic Games. Why, because he came first? No, not at all, he came last actually. He walked across the finish line... He didn’t even walk, he hobbled across, arm in arm with his dad. Oh, what an occasion folks, it makes me want to cry. You see, it is not how you start, it is how you finish. He would not stop and his dad supported him all the way, he fought off the officials and finished the race.

I want to say to you, today, get up and finish your race. Whether it be your marriage, your business, your degree or your ministry - finish what you have started and Jesus will stand up in Heaven and clap for you.

God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.