Taking over the path!
There is a sneaky acorn squash hiding below the zinnias.
And there you have it! Another summer is ending! The last hurrah! Flowers and veggies are pouring forth their last efforts before the race ends. Winter is approaching, nights are getting more crisp, days are getting shorter. With these last few weeks of summer have you noticed that your garden tends to just take a big breath and poof! Vines take over, stems go criss-cross, and flowers go gangly! There is more green than bright color at this stage. It is like the garden takes one last go at making a big effort to finish well.
Lately I’ve been thinking quite a bit about “finishing well”. It’s a phrase we are starting to often hear especially since we have retired. It must mean we are aging. (Read my frown between the lines.) What does this phrase really mean? Inside of us is a drive and desire to finish well in this life. And I know it probably comes from Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” Yes, we want to do well for our Lord Jesus. But I have been thinking about this in a different light and from a different perspective. It seems that the focus is on me, the pressure to perform well, that I do well. It almost seems prideful with a lack of humility. In the last few years there have been quite a few big names of Christians who have fallen pretty hard and low. If these have fallen who am I to think I can finish well? What makes me any better than these sad people?
My soul is so needy that unless God reaches into my heart and strengthens me with His amazing powerful Spirit, I am sunk. I cannot finish well. So from here on out I am changing my thinking. Philippians 1:6 says it great, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” So my soul is singing the praises of our glorious Savior, Jesus Christ! For it is only His work in and through me that will finish well. When I abide with Him and lift His name high, there is no pressure, there is no unsuccessful labor, there is only worship. And when I am worshiping Jesus I am not thinking of myself finishing well. He is taking all of my thought. He is my focus. Praising Him will occupy me. Like Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20, I will sing and praise the Lord and He will set ambushes against my enemy, for His lovingkindness endures forever! It is His battle, not mine. I’m resting in Jesus’ complete work to finish me well.
K.C.
