Prayer: Father God, Lord Jesus, hallowed is your holy name. In times like these, Lord, help us follow Your way and truth. We understand that we cannot fight evil with evil, so we humble ourselves before Your mighty throne and ask for strength to rise to Your level of integrity and discipline as we become doers of Your Word with the intent to finish what we start. Lord, help! In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
Message: Many of us have half-built projects, and they are calling us to finish what we started.
I have four or five unfinished books, including a Poetry Book I started more than ten years ago. My husband has a dozen or more projects lying unfinished in the yard, garage, or inside the house. However, today, I want to speak about the unfinished projects we start for the Lord. The message is simple: finish what you started.
God equips us with gifts, naturally or through training, to complete the work He calls us to do. To serve the church and the Lord, that work could be as a musician, a singer, an accountant, a teacher, a minister, a pastor, or whatever the church needs in times like these. Many different gifts are used to complete the one task that every human has in common: to become disciples.
This task has been passed down through countless generations and is the same today as yesterday. This journey started when Jesus commissioned the eleven disciples to go into the world “and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). This mission requires us to love the Lord Jesus wholeheartedly and to be a living sacrifice to Him. So, my brothers and sisters, the time has come to re-dedicate ourselves and re-commit to finishing what we started. We say we love the Lord, then hear His words, for He said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15, NKJV). My Christian friends, we need to stop deceiving ourselves; the Lord wants everyone who calls Him Lord to “be doers of the Word” (James 1:22).
Those little “honey-do” projects around the house do not compare to the work we do for the Lord that we leave unfinished. Finish the work you started for the Lord; be a doer of the Word. This is not a suggestion but a command that leads to completing all the other tasks. Blessings abound for those who hear and obey the Word of God (Luke 11:28).
Abraham listened to God when God told him to leave his home and go to an unknown place. Abraham obeyed God’s command and became the father of many nations. The Hebrew Boys listened to God and believed He would never leave or forsake them. So, they obeyed the king and walked into the fiery furnace, believing God would not abandon them even if they died. Noah obeyed the Lord and built the Ark to save his family and humankind, as many ridiculed and mocked him. Joseph listened to the preaching of forgiveness. He obeyed and became a doer of the Word by forgiving his brothers and saving his family from a famine. A young Jewish girl, Ester risked her life to save her people. Her courage and divine intervention are why the Jewish people triumphed.
We challenge you to consider these examples of faith and ask yourself: “Is my faith in God and God’s Word strong enough to travel to an unknown place, step into a fiery furnace, build an Ark while being ridiculed, forgive unconditionally, or risk your life for your brothers and sisters?” Too many of us hear the Word of God and ignore what we hear because we decide beforehand that no matter what we hear, we are not buying. My husband and I sometimes make this pact when we go to sales presentations, agreeing beforehand that “no matter what they say, we are not buying.”
Many people listen to the Word of God in that same way, previously agreeing to ignore it. They dismiss it because they close their hearts and thus never come to the knowledge of truth. Do not deceive yourself; we cannot understand spiritual things with a closed heart and mind. “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:14, NIV). Listen carefully; the Word of God does not always validate what you think you know. Too many called by God have heard the Word of God and choose to obey or disobey.
True disciples challenge themselves to finish what they start and encourage others to do likewise, which means obeying God's Word. As all Christians should, we choose to use the Bible (God’s Word) as our moral guide. We trust God and want you to believe that “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9, NASB). We must believe that the call on our lives is a holy calling from God; otherwise, finishing what we start would be null and void. Belief is paramount; “For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness” (Rom. 10:10, NKJV).
You know what God called you to do because He “equips you in every good thing to do His will” (Heb. 13:21, NASB). We can do our will with what God provides when we agree with God’s will. If it is in your heart to steal, that is not God’s will, and that thought is not from God. Moses doubted his speaking abilities, but God gave him what he needed. Jonah chose to be disobedient and to lean on his understanding, but God’s will prevailed when he came to his senses in the belly of a fish.
The Lord commissioned disciples to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19, NLT). In this current culture, too many times, the baptism ritual is completed, but the teaching to obey His commands is ignored. Well, guess what? One of His commands is: “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). Love Him with your heart, soul, mind, and strength! That is a lot of love, and we can use that love to finish what we started.
• Don’t give up because no one encourages you. Encourage yourself.
• Don’t give up because no one appreciates your calling. They did not call you; God did!
• Don’t give up because your enemy or friend has sown a seed of discord. Use your God-given ability to discern.
Be determined that you will finish what you started not by your power or might but by the Spirit of Living God! Promise yourself, “No matter what I am going through, I will not give up.” That’s my testimony, and I’m sticking to it! Feed your spirit and finish what you started. God’s grace, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will be with you always. In Jesus' name, it is done.
