finish line

 

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.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Paul is anticipating the end of ministry, not because he is heading into a restful retirement, but because of his impending martyrdom. He wrote Timothy from a Roman imprisonment, awaiting to appear before Caesar Nero. History tells us he was executed by Rome. And so, he looks at his life of service to King Jesus and sees it as a good fight, a finished race, and a kept faith.

And Paul anticipates with joy that no matter what Nero has in store for him, Jesus has a reward for him worth receiving: the crown of righteousness. Paul longs to see the Jesus Whose gospel he has faithfully preached for so long. He is ready for his reward.

I still feel strongly that I am in the middle of the fight with much great ministry ahead. The finish line seems a ways off, but I cannot know the plan of God fully. I will be done when He says so. One day, He will let me know the work is done. Oh, that I will have been faithful to the gospel until that day!