FINISH THE RACE AND COMPLETE THE TASK
While meaninglessness cuts through the essence of life for many, if one follows Christ, life is full of meaning and hence satisfaction. Consider Paul’s statement,
I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)
While faced with the prospect of suffering, imprisonment and possible death, Paul begins by stating that he would not shy away from giving up his physical life. Yes, our physical life does have value, but its highest value is in being able to translate this physical life to eternal gain, which Paul was able to accomplish without compromise. In any case, our physical lives are not ours to keep. We came into this physical world without our design, and we will all leave one day, again without our design. When that truth is made adequately clear, meaningfulness comes home with a two-fold objective.
First, our aim should be to persevere to finish the race. The race refers to the journey to find and remain in Christ. Salvation comes home with repentance and faith in the saving knowledge of Christ. The connection thereby established with God has to be maintained against the forces that attempt to take man away from the light and from God. If after salvation, man slips into a lethargy and does nothing to keep alive that relationship, the world can overcome him and prevent him from finishing the race. Materialism, hedonism, legalism, and the inability to separate from the system that controls the world, can all contribute to taking one away from the faith. It is no small thing to be able to, at the end of our lives to say,
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2Tim 4:7)
The second object in life is to be able to recognize one’s calling from God and complete what has been entrusted to you. Everyone lives his life according to an agenda- it could be to increase one’s worth in this world, to follow a political or religious leader or to just merge with the existing systems of the world. Paul talks of a higher calling- one of recognizing what God’s will is and to complete all that has been entrusted. For Paul, it was to declare the gospel to the Jews and the Gentiles and in many ways establish the foundation of the early church. For others it might be being a parent, working faithfully in a specific field, contributing to an organization, being a teacher, a mentor, a missionary, and so on. Far too often, people look at others and mistakenly assume that God’s calling to another should also be theirs. Frustration and disappointment follow.
When the relationship with God is strong through Christ, strength is granted to complete the race. Discernment of the will of God and the perseverance to complete the task for one’s life follows.
