11/05/19 Running the Race Well

READING: Jeremiah 24-26, 2 Timothy 4

The older I get, the more I realize that what we leave behind when we die is more important than what we can temporarily gain today. I particularly think about the lives of people we’ve tried to influence through the years. Just today, I had the privilege of leading PhD oral examinations for two men I’ve had the privilege of investing in for the past several years. Each is a man of God who wants to be faithful to Him. Both love the Lord, their family, the church, the lost, and the nations. God is using them in significant ways in two different contexts, and I’ve had the blessing of simply walking beside them as they’ve led the way in faithfulness.

I think of these guys and others I’ve spent time with over the years, and I think I can better understand the apostle Paul’s heart when he faced the reality of his own death. He knew he could say with integrity, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7), and he also apparently had confidence in Timothy’s willingness and ability to carry on the work after Paul was gone. His solemn charge to his protégé was both an exhortation and an encouragement – Paul wanted Timothy to serve well and finish well, just as Paul himself was doing.

That’s my prayer, too: that I will finish well, and others I get to invest in will finish well, too.

PRAYER: “God, grant all of us grace to run the race well.”   

TOMORROW’S READING:  Jeremiah 27-29, Titus 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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