FINISHING
THE RACE
Memorise:
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 2nd
Timothy 4:7
Read: 2nd Timothy 4:6-8.
MESSAGE!
The moment you become born-again, a race was
set before you (Hebrew 12:1). This implies
that until a person becomes born-again, he or she has no destination to go with
God. It is the new birth in Christ Jesus that gives you a destination in God.
Are you saved? If you are, there is divine destination you have been called
upon. Religion and being religion can never give you a destination in Christ.
If you are born-again, you are going somewhere glorious, prepared for you by
the Lord Jesus Christ, both in this world and in the world to come; but if you
are not born-again, you are heading nowhere. You shall arrive at your God-given
destination in Jesus’ Name.
Moreover, it is one thing to start a race and
another thing to finish it. While it is a great thing to finish the race, it is
more glorious to finish it with joy. The devil will do everything to stop you
from starting the race, but when he fails, he will try to hinder you from
reaching the finish line. When he sees that he is not able to stop you from
finishing the race, he will do everything possible to make you miserable, sad,
depressed and unhappy along the way, so that you will end the race with
grumbling, regrets, in tears and, if possible, even accusing God. These are all
satanic wiles, but by the grace of God, you shall overcome.
One Bible character who was very conscious of
the race he was called to run was Paul the apostle. In our Bible reading,
towards the end of his race, he looked back and assessed his performance. He
assessed himself against the backdrop of the rewards he saw reserved for him in
Heaven. Paul knew exactly what he wanted. He had set his goal right from when
his race started, and had worked assiduously towards achieving it. In Acts 20:22-24, in spite of the difficult
situations he had already gone through for the faith, he acknowledged that
several unpleasant events were awaiting him even as he headed for Jerusalem. Nevertheless,
he was completely detached from them, because he was totally sold out to the
Lord; the devil was therefore not able to get his attention. He had to do all
these so that he could finish his race with joy. If you truly want to finish
your race with joy, you must die to self. Satan will do everything to get at
you, but if you are dead to self, you will not be moved. However, if you allow
self to control you, you will take offence and finish in sorrow, and you may
even get derailed. Are you ready to pay the price to finish this Christian race
with joy?
Prayer
Point
Father, help me finish with joy the Christian race set before me.
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