Daily Devotional – 10/15/11 “Better late than never”

You start a book, home project, weight loss goal or even school with your mind up that you’ll finish.  You start off great and everything is exactly where you need it to be.  Then stuff happens!  The kids need you to take them somewhere, your money gets funny, you go out with friends & eat way more than you should or the task at hand gets to be a bit much.  All of a sudden, your plans have taken a back seat.  You get discouraged because you started something and just can’t seem to finish it. 

But I’ve learned that it is not about the starters but about the finishers.  In a race, many people begin at the beginning bell, but during the race some get sick, some catch a cramp in their leg and some gets too tired to make it to the end.  However, when the time comes to crown a winner, the announcer never says anything about all of those who were counted out because they are only concerned about the ones who crossed the finish line.  In the bible, it states “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)

See, it doesn’t matter when you finish, just as long as you do.  It’s the same as saying, it doesn’t matter how many times you fall just as long as you get back up.  The devil will come into your life as many times as you allow him too.  Each time he shows up, his goal is to destroy you.  Yes, he may seem like he is winning in the beginning when it seems like all hell is breaking loose. You know the times when the kids you’ve raised don’t even look the same to you, your checking account stays in the red even when you’re working all the overtime that is offered or your body is attacked by sickness at every turn.  But if you stay the course (God’s course) and praise your way through, you will come out victorious every time.  God never promised that all your days would be good but that he would be there to see you through them.  If you don’t believe me, read the story of Job.  Even after all he’d endured, his faith never wavered and his trust in God never failed.  When his storm was over, all the devil had taken was replaced with twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10) Because he completed the race, his reward was worth what he had to endure.    

So, find time to finish that book or the home improvement project.  Go to the gym or add a 30 minute walk on your lunch break to reach your weight loss goal.  Schedule some time to finish the classes that you’ve started at the local college.  Finish what you’ve started because it’s never too late.  What if God gave up on us the way we give up on things?  How would our life be?  It would be like God giving you the strength to climb a mountain but in the middle he removes that same strength and now you’re stuck there.  It is a bad situation to be in, huh?  Aren’t you glad God doesn’t work that way?

I tell the kids, all the time, that turning their homework in late is wrong.  However, turning it in late is better than not turning it in at all (but shh… don’t tell them that!) Finishing the race or the goal that you’ve set matters!  It doesn’t matter when you finish just as long as you do.  It also doesn’t matter if you’re last just as long as you finish.  Matthew 20:16, states “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The saying is true, it is better late than never!