It’s graduation season! Congratulations to all of our graduates. Graduation signals not only an ending, but a beginning. High school graduation is the launching of new adventures and new responsibilities. Starting is easy, finishing is hard! An education is a great start, but success comes from finishing what you start.
Regarding our spiritual lives, finishing strong is essential. How you live your life is important, but how you finish your life is most important! Paul taught us to finish the race (2 Tim. 4:7). Jesus instructed us to count the cost before we start something so that we will be sure to finish it (Luke 14:25-35). For the Christian, the heavenly reward and eternal inheritance comes at the end, not at the beginning or the middle. Jesus finished all he had been given to do (John 17:4). He even cried from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
Author J. Robert Clinton found that fewer than a third of the leaders in the Bible finished strong. In his study of 1,300 historical and contemporary leaders, he estimates that only about a third of them finished strong (Cole). Finishing is the toughest part of any project, just ask any homeowner!
Satan wears us down. He keeps attacking as life’s race runs onward. Graduation is a great finish start. Giving your life to Christ is a great start. Getting married is a great start. But finishing is the challenge. Determine to finish strong!
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Cole, Neil. Organic Leadership, 2010. p. 155
