The Art of Finishing

Romans 9:28
“For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.”

The character of God is to finish. One of the most overlooked parts of Christ’s payment for man’s sins is that He finished the work. The work that Christ came to Earth to do was finished. Imagine if Christ didn’t finish the work. Imagine if Christ came and lived a sinless life but didn’t die on the cross. Imagine if Christ came and lived a sinless life, died on the cross, but didn’t rise from the dead. Imagine if Christ lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose from the dead, but didn’t take His blood and apply it on the mercy seat in Heaven. My friend, if Christ didn’t finish the work He came to do, every person who has ever been born and ever will be born would go to Hell because it takes the finished work of Christ for a person to have the opportunity to get saved.

If Christ understood the importance of finishing what He came to do, every believer should understand the importance of finishing. It should never be said about any believer that they don’t finish what they start. Finishing what you start is the result of character, and quitting before you finish reveals the lack of character. The verse above says, “he will finish the work.” Let me point out several things this verse shows about finishing.

First, you must start before you can finish. You can’t finish something you have never started. You are no closer to finishing what you desire if you don’t start towards the finish line. At some point, you must stop talking about doing something and start doing it if you want to finish the task.

Second, you must continue before you can finish. Between the start and the finish is a person who continues. Starting a task is easy, but continuing the task takes determination. Many people get sidetracked from what they started and never finish it. Many people start something, work on it for a little bit, and then start something else, work on it for a little bit, and then start something else again. The temptation to start something else is always great, but you must continue until you finish before you choose to start other projects.

Third, it takes work to finish. Finishing is not easy because if it was easy, everyone would finish what they start. Working is not always exciting or fun, but you will never get to the finish line unless you work. It is the unpleasantry of working that reveals the character of the individual who is striving for the finish line. If you quit every time hard work comes, you will quit every project you start. Always remember that there is a lot of hard work between the start and the finish. If you are not willing to do the work, you should never start the project.

Fourth, it takes will power to finish. The verse above says, “For he will finish…” There are going to be times when it takes determination and will power to finish what you are doing. It takes will power to get through the obstacles that you face on the task. It takes determination to work through the mundane tasks that gets you to the finish line. There will be days when you will have to will yourself to take one more step toward finishing what you started. You will never finish what you start without willing yourself to finish.

Fifth, finishing is not leaving anything undone. Don’t be a person who leaves anything undone. It is making sure everything is done and finished right to qualify as finishing the task.

Author: Allen Domelle