Finishing

 Have you started something and not finished it? A diet. A book. Working on a college or post graduate degree. A project around the house. We are good at starting things but not so good at finishing. As I coach and work with the younger generation, it seems many do not have grit. They give up easily when things get hard. Some like to cut corners. To shy away from difficult assignments. They all do not know how to finish. 

I had a habit of quitting things when I was younger. It usually boiled down to me getting mad and quitting a  ball team, a job, a friendship, and one semester even college. I had some tough lessons to learn about finishing. I believe quitting can become a habit, but so can finishing. 

There is no better example of finishing than Jesus on the cross. He knew what He had to do. Why do you think He sweat drops of blood under the strain of taking on the sins of the world and suffering the penalty of that sin when He prayed. He knew exactly what He had to do. 

Many have written about the effects of being crucified. Exactly what the act of crucifixion did to a human body. It was one of the most cruel form of executions ever invented.  Stop for a minute and really reflect on the suffering Savior on the cross. He said something at the end that still gets me. "It is finished." In that statement, Jesus in essence said I finished. The work of redemption is complete. Salvation is paid for and now available to people through history. He did not quit. He did not throw in the towel when the work of saving souls got costly. To the point of His execution. He finished. 

I would have you note something else. He did say, "It is finished." He did not say, "I am finished." Because He rose up out of that grave and is alive today seated at the right hand of the Father waiting to come get His bride, the blood bought church. He still works. He still saves, heals, delivers, and sets people free. He is a finisher. 

Jesus did not quit on us. We should not quit on Him when things get hard. When we face a trial. Have to endure some hardship. Have to press through a little suffering from time to time. In my years in the ministry, I have seen many people quit on Jesus. 

I met a young man named Nick at a youth camp in Louisiana once. Nick got saved that day and told me that he wanted to get a Bible. I told him I would buy him one after I got home and mail it to him. Here is what I wrote in the front cover of his Bible, "Nick, don't ever turn your back on the One who placed His back on a cross for you." I could have just as easily wrote, "Don't quit on Jesus." It's the same thing I say to all of us. Finish. Jesus finished with His back on a cross and on a cold hard rock slab in a tomb. He finished by doing what He had to do. He endured the cross. He bravely faced death. He also arose victorious and is risen alive and well. We owe everything to Him. 

Whatever He calls us to do finish it. Endure. Remain faithful. Be steadfast. Persevere. Stay the course. Never quit. Keep striving. Press on. Finish.