Faithfully Enduring To The End

How do we feel about someone who starts a sentence but never finishes it? How about someone who starts a job but never gets around to completing it? How about a man who is contracted for a job, but does not finish the job?

Do we expect to win the prize if we do not cross the finish line? For some reason, we understand this truth as it applies to our physical world, but seem to think that it does not apply regarding eternity.

Beloved, we do not receive the crown of life until the end (Matthew 10:22; Matthew 24:13; cf. 2 Timothy 4:6-8; Revelation 2:10). The victor’s crown does not adorn the head of the weak, the indifferent, the worldly minded, the negligent, nor the quitter. Along with the Hebrew writer:

“….we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:11-12).

Starting is the easy part — it is the finishing, the grinding it out when it hurts, the bearing up under exasperation, the enduring when it seems there is no end in sight — that’s the difficult part. Sometimes folks start walking the narrow way but it becomes too difficult and the price too great to pay. Like the shallow soil, there is no depth and they quickly fall away (Matthew 13:5,21).

Let’s remember that if we do not faithfully endure to the end, there is no crown of life.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets