Finish Well (1 Chronicles 10:13)

One of the themes that God has placed on my heart over the past few years as I look back at God’s faithfulness & look ahead to new the approaching finish line & the age of my past mentors is the constant reminder by the Holy Spirit through His Word to ‘Finish Well.’ 
I had the privilege of teaching upon this theme at Beit Shean in Israel this past March, where the bodies of King Saul & his sons were hung in a pagan temple. (1Samuel 31:8-13; 1Chronicles 10:8-12)
If anyone’s life should teach & warn us to finish well, King Saul’s speaks loud! 
1Chron.10:13 sums it up this way...‘So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, & also because he consulted a medium for guidance.’
Wiersbe said, ‘Saul substituted saying for doing, excuses for confession, sacrifice for obedience, & reputation for character. Finally he substituted his will, for God’s will.’
‘In spite of all the blessings God gave to Saul, & all the opportunities to grow spiritually, because of Saul’s disobedience to God’s Word...he first lost his dynasty (13:11) & then his kingdom (15:24) & finally he lost his crown.’
When Saul began his royal career, he was described as standing head & shoulders “taller than any of the people” (1Sam.9:2) but he ended his career w/his head removed & fallen on the battlefield before the enemy (1Sam.31:4). 
In contrast, David humbled himself before the Lord, & the Lord lifted him up, but Saul’s pride & rebellion brought him to a shameful end. 
The Apostle Paul warns (1Cor.10:12) “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”.
When God sizes a person up He puts the tape measure not around the brain, or the biceps, or the waistline - but around the heart. 
May we allow the Lord to search & ransack our hearts for anything that does not honor Him and lead us further on the path of righteousness.
(W.H. Griffith Thomas) said: ‘The grace of continuance is the greatest need of all. Have we not, perhaps, heard of some servant of God who had been honored & blessed, & afterwards fell into sin & shame? Can we not, perchance think of some who commenced their Christian life, & it may be their ministry, full of hope & promise, but who are now “unfulfilled prophecies,” by reason of lack of faithfulness to the heavenly vision? 
They have virtually ceased to pray, practically ceased to meditate on the Bible, ceased to be unworldly; they have adopted unworthy methods in their ministry, pandered to worldliness & earthly ambitions, & the result is dullness, darkness, dryness, deadness in life & ministry, souls not being saved, believers not being quickened, everything stale & unprofitable in their service. 
They are “cast away”, not in the sense of losing their salvation, but of having lost their usefulness. They are “disapproved,” rejected, set aside. While the regenerate can never become unregenerate, he can, alas! Become degenerate, & herein lies one of the gravest perils of the Christian life.’
Praying for you, that we all ‘Finish Well.’ The Best is Yet to Come!