THE CONCLUSION OF A MAN’S LIFE

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit (Ecclesiastes 7:8 KJV). Beloved of God, what is reckoned is not how you begin but how you end. The apostle Paul began as a persecutor of the Christians in his day to the extent that he personally went to the Chief Priest for letters to arrest the Christians and put them in Jail. He even held the clothes of those who stoned Stephen and gave open approval for it to be carried out, but when he was about to exit, having come into Christ and fulfilled his mandate declared “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Jesus gave a parable to the Chief Priest and Elders and said “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, the first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:28-31). To begin in Christ is not enough, what matter is to fulfil the mandate for which God called you in Christ. A believer who is not fulfilling anything is one who can only refer to the glories of yesterday and has nothing to show forth today and tomorrow. 1Corinthians 9:24 says “Do you not see that in a running competition all take part, but only one gets the reward? So let your minds be fixed on the reward”. (BBE) What will be the conclusion of your life on earth? Will it be that you fulfilled or that you were also born? Be conscious that God has given you an assignment to finish. Your reward awaits you! Shalom