Follow Through
Do you ever have those convicting moments? You think you’re doing well and then all of a sudden, this twinge of conviction settles into your soul?
I was in a reading mood, so naturally I made my way to the bottom shelf of my coffee table. As I shuffled through a stack of half-read books, it hit me. I’m really good at starting things, but not always so great at finishing. The energy and excitement is there when I feel the divine inspiration to start a project, but what good is a started project or a half-read book if I never finish?
Have you ever been there? Excitement stirs, and energy flows with the new. But what happens when the newness wears off, and you come to a point of just powering through? Staring at that stack of unfinished books made me face a few other things I need to wrap up.
And as we come off the empty tomb, I realized something else. too. Jesus never half-finished anything. He did everything with grace and grit, the finish line always on His mind. He didn’t walk out His mission on earth and get to the garden of Gethsemane and say, “Father, take this cup from me, I am finished.” Instead, He desperately and humbly prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Mathew 26:39
When our will runs out, may we follow Jesus’ example and turn to the Father and ask Him for a little bit (or a whole lot) of His. Whether it’s just a stack of books or something bigger, remember Jesus’ words on the cross: “It is finished.” He didn’t follow through for us to not. He didn’t carry His cross for us to lay ours down. He didn’t take the lashings and the beatings for us to waste our days and not walk out what we are meant to finish, too.
So just a gentle reminder, whatever you do (and I too), follow Jesus’ example of follow-through. Whatever you do, whether it’s baking sourdough, raising babies, or commanding attention in a courtroom, do it all for the glory of God with these words on your heart. “It is finished.” I can’t think of any words (or motive for that matter) more motivating than that.