Finishing Well
"Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people." Genesis 25:8
Don't cry for Abraham. Don't mourn his death. Don't grieve his departure. Look at what he made of his life and his final years on earth.
I've said all along that Abraham's story is our story. This particular narrative of how de died a satisfied man holds at least two valuable secrets to our finishing well. One has to do with being faithful; the other has to do with being diligent.
The first secret: faithfully remember that each day offers opportunities for staying young at heart.
Each morning you wake up with a fresh opportunity to live that day well, to see your next twenty-four hours as a series of choices. The Lord has granted you a genuine stake in what the day holds. Choose a positive attitude. Choose to seek out and focus on the good things. Choose to face your opportunities with eager anticipation. Choose to set aside your own expectations, and then embrace what God chooses to do. Choose to live in a constant state of surprise by laying aside your will and letting the Lord's will unfold.
The second secret: diligently refuse to give up.
Determine that you will never stop living until someone puts a mirror under your nose and there's no fog. Never stop. Never give up.
A biographer of baseball player Satchell Paige writes, "Told all this life that black lives matter less than white ones, he teased journalists by adding or subtracting years each time they asked his age, then asked them, 'How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?'"
That's a thought-provoking question, isn't it? So how old are you?
REFLECT
What would it look like for you to stay young at heart? Is there a pursuit you have abandoned that you need to take up again with renewed passion?
This is an excerpt from Faith for the Journey by Charles Swindoll. It's available at OMF Lit and Passages Bookshops and our online store, passagesbooks.com for P250.
Life isn’t for cowards. If life can be compared to a journey, it’s certainly a bumpy one. Family medical emergencies can send us on emotional hairpin curves. Job losses can make you feel like you’re stalling on a busy eight-lane highway. In this 30-day devotional, popular Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll inspires us to develop courageous trust in the God who’s in charge of our journey. He uses the life of Abraham to illustrate what it means to dare to trust. Just like Abraham, we may not know where God is leading us or how God will fulfill his promises to us. But we’re called to trust―and that’s not easy when we have our own hopes and dreams for ourselves and our families. Let Chuck Swindoll be your daily companion, encouraging you to put your life back into God’s capable hands. Discover today the freedom of courageous trust.