It’s much easier to start something well than to finish it in the same manner.Whether it’s the exercise program that we’re bound and determined to complete, or the home improvement project that lingers on our to-do list, we tend to begin with abundant motivation only to find that it languishes as time passes on. Beginnings are exciting – a new school year, a new hobby or a new goal all fuel our intentions; ending with the fire burning is a much harder proposition.
In much the same way, each day begins with new promises and potential. We commit that today will be the day that we live wholeheartedly for Christ. And we start off well. But as much as the day holds potential, it holds challenges and problems too, and often these quelch the enacting of our good intentions.
However, in his song “10,000 Reasons” [affiliate link] Matt Redman reminds us that this isn’t how he should be. He sings:
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
How we begin the day matters, but how we end the day matters too. As with most things, how we end will come to define what proceeded it.
And since our lives are the summation of our days, we not only want to end each day well, but we want to end the race that God has set before us in the same way. As our lives in Him began with praise, so we want the end of our lives here to finish with it. After all, for His children, the end here is the start of life with Him there.
And often, how our lives end will come to define what proceeded it. And we want our lives to be defined by praising Him.
