AIM FOR THE FINISH

DAY 17

Hebrews 6:11,12 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The diligence expected from this charge was to span across a period of time: ‘from the beginning to the end’. Thus, as much as initiative to start is brilliant, the capacity to sustain and the grace to hold the Fort until the very end are indispensable.

We might even say that the word of God puts an equal weighting on that beginning as much as it does the end because God is Alpha-Omega: not just the God of the beginning, but also the end. Saint Paul would therefore write in his first letter to the Corinthians (9:24) “we run in a race to receive the prize”- and that prize is given after the finish line, when all rules have been obeyed in the race.

He reiterates this in 2nd Timothy 4:7 ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith’. Yes, He arrived at the end.

Today’s message might therefore come as a nudge to someone, or an encouragment to another: “Don’t throw in the towel just yet”. Your diligence has to play its course through to the end of the journey you’re on because those who obtained the promises were those who tarried ‘IN FAITH’ and  ‘WITH PATIENCE’ TO THE END.

#sly