Start well...Finish well

Incomplete DIY projects, an exercise bike covered in dust, exercise equipment in the loft, a discarded gym membership card - all testimony to the fact that it's a lot easier to start something than it is to finish it. Anyone can start running a marathon, but to complete the course takes dedication, commitment, hard work, determination, training...

Paul, one of the major writers of the New Testament said in Acts 20:24 that his only aim was to finish the race and complete the job that Jesus had given him to do. He knew that even though he had done some amazing stuff in the past he could not bask in past glories - he had to keep on going - right to the end of the race.

Asa was King of Judah between 913-911 BC and we read about him in 1 Kings 15, and 2 Chronicles 14-16. He was a king who started really well, but it all went wrong at the end.


Whenever we're in a new situation we need to try and start well. We want to make a good impression. But who are we trying to impress? Asa knew that it was more important to impress God than to try and please people. Asa made God his number one priority. Whenever we start something new we need to take the decision that God is going to be our priority - and allow that fact to influence all of our decisions and choices.

So for those who will be starting university in the next couple of weeks here are three pieces of advice. Find a good church, join a Christian student group, and join another student group (sports club etc etc).

But Asa let things slip, and so the end of his reign is marked with war rather than peace. He took his eyes off God, and began to rely on himself. Maybe as we look at our Christian walk we see that things have slipped. We're not doing the things we once did. God is gracious and compassionate and therefore he wants us to start again - yes it will be hard and difficult, but the invitation is there. The invitation is there to finish well - because there is a prize in store for those who finish well.

Remember the Vegetable Patch

Have you ever wondered why God allows certain things to happen? Or maybe instead of the 'why' question you wonder how people can believe in God when there is so much suffering in the world. Good things happen to bad people - bad things happen to good people.

This week we're looking at the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. A man sows good seed, but an enemy comes along and sows weeds, so that when the wheat starts to grow the man's servants notice the weeds. Realising that this is the work of an enemy the man does not get his servants to pull out the weeds - that runs the risk of damaging the wheat. Instead the field is left until the harvest. Then the weeds are pulled out and burned, leaving the wheat to be harvested.

In my front garden I grow a few flowers - marigolds and roses. Flowers are there to look nice. In my back garden I have vegetables (see earlier blogs). Vegetables are not there to look nice - they're there for the harvest, when they will be eaten. As Christians sometimes we think of our life as a flower garden - it should look nice now. But in reality our life is a vegetable patch. Our goal is the harvest.

Life is messy. We live in a world influenced by sin. People have free will, and some do whatever they want no matter who gets hurt in the process. But we have to believe in the bigger picture. The eternal picture. Maybe you're really struggling with something at the moment, wondering why and how God can allow this to be happening to you... There are no easy answers, no answers that make it any less painful ... but remember the vegetable patch! Ask God for the faith to keep on keeping on, to keep on believing, to keep on trusting, to persevere so that when the harvest comes you will 'shine like the sun'.

To listen to this message click here.