THE GRACE TO FINISH

DAY 307 OF 365 IN 2021

Luke 14:28-29 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,

I recall a story about a sporting competition where an athlete from a particular nation was still running on when all others had finished. He was approached by a fellow athlete who told him these words ‘just stop running because the race has ended and the winners have already been decided.’ To this, the athlete responded ‘my country sent me here to finish the race’.

In a recent conversation, ‘the grace to finish’ came to mind because often, as easy as it is to start anything, there is an extraordinary requirement of grace required to actually finish what is started. The beginning of a project garners as much attention as the finish. What happens in between might be of interest to some, but to many, it is the start and end which matter.

Jesus words in today’s text are not made up, they are a response to events. When one is unable to finish that which they start, mockery can be expected and this is often a source of worry for many, the fear of being unable to finish. That alone is enough reason not to start at all, lest they are unable to complete.

However, that fear should not become our excuse for not starting. Let us therefore ask for the grace not just to start, but to finish what we start.

#sly