Finishing Strong

B.This is what I am talking about, finishing strong is more important that starting strong. Solomon went from being God’s man to having God tear the kingdom from his hands. And the only reason God didn’t do it to Solomon directly was because of David not because of the good Solomon had done in the past, you see that didn’t matter and Solomon couldn’t say, “but God I did this and I did this, I wrote three books of the Bible doesn’t that count?” Those things didn’t really matter now, because a good start isn’t enough in the eyes of God. And Solomon was going down, and he was going down hard, because he had a lousy finish.

C.Every one cheers the runners at the start of the race. But the real race is fought and won on the back roads, where not many see and few cheer and that is where many choose to quit and they never make it to hear the cheers at the finish line.

D.Why did disaster strike in the life of Solomon? Because he stopped walking in the ways of the Lord. What did Solomon do that was so bad? Solomon married many foreign women, hundreds, and most of them were not followers of God, they worshiped idols. And these wives led Solomon away from God. He began to worship these false gods. He built altars and shrines to these gods. Solomon had a great start. He had a good father, received good advice, was humble and dependent on God, had a great prayer life, did good works for God, and he wrote three good books. But in the end we find the Lord becoming angry with Solomon and tearing the Kingdom from Him, Why? BECAUSE he no longer walked in the ways of the Lord.

E.He allowed other things in his life to replace God. It happens still today. Many start strong and are passionate about God, but somewhere along the line, God gets replaced by some other idol. Maybe it is pursuit of money, or compromising by dating or marrying a non Christian boyfriend/girlfriend, allowing unforgiveness to stay in your heart. All of these can cause a person who has started strong to “no longer walk in the ways of the Lord” and end up finishing lousy.

Paul was concerned about finishing strong I Cor 9:24-27

A.When Paul came to Christ he blew out of the blocks faster then anyone ever has. But Paul knew that there was more to a race then the start. Listen to his own words, “In a race, everyone runs but only one gets first prize. So run your race to win. To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best. An athlete goes to all this trouble just to win a blue ribbon or a silver cup, but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win. I’m not just shadow boxing or playing around. Like an athlete I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should, not what it wants to. Otherwise I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to stand aside.” 1 Cor 9:24-27.

B.Paul was concerned about finishing strong. A good start isn’t enough in the eyes of God. A good start and past victories, do not make up for a lousy finish. If Solomon could not coast in on the waves of his good start, we dare not think that we can either.