<\/p>\n
\u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing\u201d (2 Timothy 4:7,8).<\/p>\n
A CURIOUS THING HAPPENS AS THE YEARS GO BY AND WE GROW OLDER IN CHRIST. Toward life\u2019s end, we grow weary; the body deteriorates and the toll taken by the struggles of life can no longer be ignored. But at the same time, we become more excited and enthusiastic. The thought that we\u2019re getting close to the goal for which we\u2019ve always lived fills us with a zest that simply can\u2019t be experienced any earlier in life. With each passing day, Paul\u2019s words become ever more real to us: \u201cThough our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day\u201d (2 Corinthians 4:16).<\/p>\n
Paul was getting close to the end of his life when he wrote the words we find in 2 Timothy 4:7,8. Meditate with me on the phrases in this text. They tell us much about what life in Christ is about.<\/p>\n
Fought the good fight.<\/em> Our adversary, Satan, will make our path to heaven as hard as he can make it. He cannot separate us from God against our will (John 10:28,29; 16:33), but Jesus Himself said that the way would be hard (Matthew 7:14). In this world, there happens to be a war going on, and we need to be able to say, as we come to the end of life, that we have fought the good fight.<\/p>\n Finished the race.<\/em> If life is a war, it\u2019s also a race. Unless we die when we\u2019re young, it will be a long<\/em> race, one in which we\u2019ll often be tempted to give up and quit running. Lately, I have found myself saying almost every day, \u201cFeet, don\u2019t fail me now.\u201d<\/p>\n Kept the faith.<\/em> Of all the things Paul could have said, this is the grandest. To be able to utter these words as we come down to the end is, in a sense, the principal goal in life. To say that we have \u201ckept the faith\u201d does not mean that we never betrayed the Lord. It means that when we saw that we had betrayed Him, we sought His forgiveness, got back on our feet, and kept striving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cHenceforth,\u201d Paul wrote, \u201cthere is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.\u201d It is only the rugged who will receive this crown, those who have fought and run and been tested in the fire.<\/p>\n \u201cThe devil tempts that he may ruin; God tests that he may crown\u201d (Ambrose).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n