You will die one day. You want to finish the race well. You want to “live well to God today, not wasting time on peripheral matters” according to William Ames, an old Puritan pastor. How will it go for you when your race finishes and your running ends? Prepare to disembark the plane today, make sure trays are locked in upright positions, secure your bags from the overhead compartments, and do not get up until the captain turns off the seatbelt sign.
Elijah knew his time was coming to an end. God was ready to take him up. Elijah prepared to finish his race by reviewing the past and relating to people. He spent time with his student, Elisha, and together they visited schools of prophets on a final tour. They reviewed the past and celebrated their victories in the towns of Bethel and Jericho, as directed by God. Elijah’s end was routed and rooted in the Lord. God was in charge of the time of his last day, and he focused on being about the things of God until that day.
You know your last day will come. What preparations are you making? Are you absorbed in the people and places of God, taking time to review the past and take stock of where the Lord has brought you? As you consider your end, be reflective, remembering and relating. Has your life been worth it? Did you make a difference? How can you invest in the next generation and those who will live on after you pass?
Your life is at God’s disposal. God will say when your work is done and when it’s your time. You will be taken from lower to higher service if you are in Christ, whether you’re young or old, long-suffering or suddenly. No one knows their final day. We’ve seen a ski accident in Terry Peak and a plane crash in Chamberlain – “Man knows not his time.” We remember the past and relate to others, we are rewarded for our faith, we reward and bless others – we remain interested in those left behind, not stopping to invest in them. Although we leave, the Lord stays, the Lord is constant.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.