Finishing Well

This week has been difficult I must confess, but it has been good.  In preparing for service, soldiers endure 'boot camp'.  I'm not even sure if they call it that any more; but you know what I mean, they are ran, sleep deprived, exercised, disciplined, drained of what they thought they could endure and then they continue.  I have a great deal of respect for all of our service men and women.  I have the same respect for our police and firemen as they all train to serve and protect.

Are you ready for this?

I believe that most Americans are under-exercised, under-disciplined, and under-performing.  When storms hit, we are not prepared for the impact it has in our lives.  These storms can be health, financial, deaths, any number of 'storms' that come our way.  All of us have heard the stories of Gold Metal winners at the Olympics and how they pushed for that extra that took them to win.  Most of us want to be winners, but we don't want to pay the price.


There is a cost that must be paid.  I said I was having a difficult week, but every day, millions are going through much worse.  They are starving to death, death in a very agonizing way... every day.  I am one of many in our city that belong to one of a dozen or more churches that has chosen to fast for a week in January and in doing so, to seek the Lord God Almighty.  I have one more day to go and the smell of pizza permeates the house.  Let me be clear on a couple of things; this is not a private fast where it remains private and is only between God and me, this is a corporate fast with my fellow Christ followers.  Fasting is not for any praise for me, but God alone; I want to fast that I may more clearly hear God's voice; that I may be stripped of the physical to embrace the spiritual; and it is not a hunger strike to prove a point or make me special.  It is part of 'boot camp' that I might be better disciplined and ready for what lies ahead.


Special caveat:  There is no shame for those that do not or cannot fast or do not fast for a week, or fast like I do.  God isn't causing you guilt, it is probably the prince of darkness of this world.


Let's get back on track.  I think when we pray, our prayers contain to much asking.  We don't seek God in silence enough so we can hear Him.  We have it all backwards about what praying is really all about with God.  Our lack of continuing 'boot camp' only increases our desire for the things we don't have.  Think about your prayers, how much is asking God for something,  how much is in adoring God, in thanking Him, in submission and surrender, in humility and confession so that we can have a right relationship with the God of the Universe?  


The world is not getting better; just look at CNN, FOX News, read what is happening in the streets from the U.S. to Egypt to North Korea.  There are times ahead that we all must face and much of it comes into our homes through the Internet and the television.  As I was a marketer for years I can say this; the companies' goal is to make you want what you don't have and most all of it isn't necessarily good for you in the end.


The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, who had been through a great deal with Paul, he encourages him to endure, to train up, to practice, to exercise, etc. HARD.  Read what Paul wrote: "Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next. This is true, and everyone should accept it. We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe the truth, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and particularly of those who believe." 1 Tim 4:7-10 NLT

 I would like to hear Paul speak in front of us today of what he would say of Christians in 2011.  I am hungry and my desires are strong to yield to the smell, the look, the memory of the taste; but my body is OK and my heart is being renewed in Christ and my fortitude is holding in a way that is only a fragment of what millions of people have endured to follow Christ down through the ages.  

What the Eiffel Tower would have looked like if it hadn't been finished well.

 My goal (not my god) is to finish well in life following after Christ.  I am an undisciplined athlete, a casual farmer, an unprepared soldier in Paul's examples to Timothy and I know I can do better before I cross the finish line.