2 Timothy 4:6-8
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Day after day as I walked down the hall in the hospital oncology ward where my mother lay dying I began to notice something—a distinct difference between her room and others on the floor. In my mother’s room there was a sense of peace versus a sense of hopelessness; visible fear and moans of agony were evident in many of the other rooms. When my mother began her final two weeks on this earth, I placed a radio on her bedside table that played Christian praise music all day, setting a peaceful tone and providing her with a preview of heaven’s song list. Her journey to her heavenly home was one full of God’s grace, with peace and confidence of where she was going. When my father’s time came, eleven years later, he also met it with confidence and did not linger long on the journey. One day as I sat with him, I sensed the end was approaching and so began to sing quietly to him:
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face,
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace.”
In our verse today, the Apostle Paul sits in a Roman prison. Realizing his death is near, he writes this very personal letter to his “son,” Timothy to encourage him to finish his own race of faith. Paul had been faithful to finish well and was confident of where he was going. He attributed all of his endurance and faithfulness to the grace of God.
As I get older, especially now that I am closer to the age my mother was when she died, I have given a lot of thought to how I want to finish well. It is obvious that I can no longer keep the same pace I once did or start and finish the same tasks. But my hope is, whatever remaining time the Lord allows me, as the things of earth grow dimmer, that it will be a rich and rewarding period of serving Him and sharing His love, by the grace of God and for His glory. John Wesley, the famous Methodist and evangelist once said of his fellow Christians, “Our people die well.” Oh, that we would die well, my friends, completing our race, serving the Lord and proclaiming His truth as we cross the finish line!
Gracious heavenly Father, we praise You for Your mercy and grace. All our days are written in Your book and only You know how many there will be. Each day may we run the race You have set before us, with our eyes firmly fixed on You and, by Your grace, may we finish well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
