October 22, 2024 When Are We Finished?

Gloria Ashby   -  

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

When Are We Finished?

But my life is worth nothing to me unless
I use it for finishing the work
assigned me by the Lord Jesus —
the work of telling others the Good News
about the wonderful grace of God.
Acts 20:24, NLT

According to one personality trait test for teams, I was a Completer-Finisher who looked at a project and at some point declared: The End. Period. Finished. Time to celebrate victory or reflect on failure.

The challenge can be knowing when assignments are finished so that they do not linger on into oblivion or get mired in wasted time, trying to perfect what is already good enough. Marketer and entrepreneur Seth Godin agreed when he recommended*:

Whenever you start a project, …have a plan for finishing it. One outcome is to declare victory, to find that moment when you have satisfied [the] objectives and reached a goal. The other outcome … is to declare failure, to realize that you’ve run out of useful string and it’s time to move on …

If you are unable to declare, then you’re going to slog, and instead of starting new projects based on what you’ve learned, you’ll merely end up trapped. Declare one or the other but declare.

Christ was the master Completer-Finisher. In his last words on the cross, he declared “It is finished” (John 19:30). He satisfied his purpose here. And because he put the period at the end of the mission his Father gave him, we no longer remain trapped. Not by sin and not by death. The path to salvation and restoration is in place.

However, work remains. So, God commenced the next project … spreading the gospel through us so all would hear about God’s saving grace with the hope that none perish. God is a Completer-Finisher, too. He declared that this next project of His will be complete when Christ returns, and all things unite under his Lordship.

Until then, each of us individually is one of God’s works in progress, doing His work in progress, on His in-progress kingdom to come. If grateful for this honor and privilege, we will “throw [ourselves] into the work of the Master, confident that nothing [we] do for him is a waste of time or effort” (1 Corinthians 15:58, Message). And we will do so until the day the Lord declares us a work “finished” and calls us to our heavenly home.

Be still and Reflect: How do you approach completing tasks and projects in your life? Are you inclined to bring them to completion by declaring victory or acknowledging when it’s time to move on? Do you sense when a God-given assignment is complete, or do you keep slogging on to perfect the outcome beyond what God calls you to do?

Pray: Almighty God, thank You for the example of Christ as the ultimate Completer-Finisher, fulfilling His mission and paving the way for my salvation. While I am still a work in progress, help me to work diligently, knowing that any work You call me to do for Your kingdom is never in vain. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

By His Grace,
Gloria
Ashby,
Lay Leader

*Seth Godin’s blog:  Jan 13, 2012