On Finishing Well

Early in his cycling career my friend Dee would go full speed out of the gates then crash and burn at the end of each long ride. Most of us look great coming out of the gate. Like Dee we look strong, fast and invincible. It’s not how we do in the first stretch that matters. What matters is how we finish.


I haven’t listened to my Jennifer Knapp CD for some time. It’s not that I don’t still enjoy her music. It’s difficult to listen to her lyrics knowing that she professes Christianity while at the same professing to be in a lesbian relationship. Though her previous music has great guitar riffs and god focused lyrics it is obvious that she currently puts little stock in a Bible centered lifestyle. Like my friend Dee she looked strong at the outset but may not finish well.

Looking at my life as a snapshot there would be many pictures where I would appear to be a pagan because my outward fruit did not match up with my heart. As Paul said in Romans 7, “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body…” The measure of my life and each of our lives will not be how we performed at the start or middle of the race. The final determination will be based on our finishing well.