Believing And Finishing Strong.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 2 Timothy 4:7

With one minute left in the game, the players on my son’s high school football team were stunned. They had just come back from a seven-point deficit by scoring a touchdown and a two-point conversion. They had a one-point lead—until the opposing team scored a touchdown. My son’s teammates blocked the extra point, but they still trailed by five points. Murmuring could be heard throughout the stands and the sidelines.

My son, Brock, the team’s quarterback, rallied his teammates. “Hey, guys,” he shouted, “this is when it gets fun. This is what we play for.”

After my son’s team returned the kickoff to the twenty-five-yard line, the offense came in and quickly began moving the ball downfield. Play after play moved them closer to their goal, and with five seconds left in the game, they were at the opposing team’s twenty-yard line. Brock went back to pass, spotted an open receiver in the end zone, and threw the ball. The pass landed in the receiver’s hands, and for a moment we could taste the sweetest victory of Brock’s high school football career. But just as suddenly, the receiver dropped the ball, and the game was over.

I have relived that play many times because it illustrates the two greatest lessons I have learned in my life as a Christian. First, you really can do anything you believe God has called you to do. And second, if you want to do it, you have to finish well.

You see, my son’s football team moved the ball downfield during the final minute of that memorable game because they believed they could. But in the end, they couldn’t finish what they had started.

In the Christian life, just as in football, how you start is important. But even more important is how you finish.

God, grant me the perseverance to finish well.