Finishing Well

I wanted to cover something today that I hope would be of help to all of us. All of us who are over 40. So those of you who are under 40, you can kind of tune out. No, I don't want you to do that because this is good, actually, I think, for all of us. But it's something that, in a sense, we probably think of as we age. And I know I've gone to several memorials or several funeral services for members here over the last couple of months now, and I was thinking about just how it is that we not only age and we all get older, we can't avoid that, but how well we not only age, but how we deal with even the problems of aging. Because, you know, I think about this, and again, this is for all of us who are 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, or 30, or 20. It's for all of us to think about. And yet, I think about this more today at 65 than certainly I did at 25 or at 45. Maybe at 45, I was starting to think a little more about this. But certainly, as you get into 60, 65, 70, that's normally a retirement age. And there's going to be some type of transition that will take place in people's lives. Some of you, I know, are retired.

Some may eventually be or want to be. I may want to be, but I may never be.

That's okay, because I prefer to try to do something. And yet, no matter what our age, we want to remain engaged in life and productively enjoy our lives as we age. We're not just putting in our time until we die. That shouldn't be. I think that's a bad perception, to think, well, I'm old, I'm tired. I don't know that that's necessarily wrong. I've talked to numerous people who are maybe even closer to even dying. And I've done what I can do. I'm okay with dying, which is understandable as well, in that they don't fear death. And yet, several years ago, actually, it's been about 15 years ago, I read a book that was entitled, Finishing Well.

That's, I think, a good title, even for what I want to cover today. It was written by a man named Bob Buford, and he gathered a lot of information from many people. Now, clearly, he was not gathering that from church members, at least from our congregation. They may have been church-related in some way to some church, but he gathered a lot of information. He gleaned a great deal of information from people as they got older, and as they wanted to continue to be productive. They didn't want, if they got to 50 or 60, or at a time when they technically were retiring, they didn't want to feel, my life is over. I don't have anything more to contribute. And so he was studying them, and actually, I guess the book compiled a bunch of examples, probably 50 or 60 examples, of different people who had done what he would assume would be finished well, who had done productive things even in later part of their lives. And I think that's a good concept for us to think about. He actually touched on a number of very thought-provoking topics that I thought I would share with you today, because it can be helpful. The way he kind of capsulized the people that he talked to and wrote about in this book was, you know, many of them, throughout their lives, they had struggled. You know, they were building something, perhaps, in whatever work or career they were in. They often became, and the people he was talking to, they became competent. They were successful. They were able to achieve something that was quite notable, and maybe even beyond notable, even where it was quite significant. And yet, what he pointed out, beyond struggle and success and significance, which is the way he framed that, he said there also needs to come a surrender. And understanding, and the way again he was framing this, and understanding that, well, you continue to have purpose in life, you've got to be willing to, you know, give yourself up to be a benefit or to be a blessing to other people. That, of course, you know, that's what he was commenting about, about, you know, all of these different examples that he was recording. And actually, I say, the book primarily was dealing with financial aspects of later life and how to make a difference for other people. And I think probably most of the people he was talking to were significantly able financially. And yet, the principles that he mentioned, whether or not we are, you know, significantly able that way, the principles that he pointed out, I think, are very important. I'd like to read some of these. I've got a whole bunch of notes. I know when I read this book sometime earlier, it made quite an impression on me because I can see that, well, what he's pointing out is very beneficial to us. It should be beneficial to me to try to think of how I can continue to be productive even as I continue to age. So I want to start going through these. He actually, there are a number of different kind of highlights that he gave in the book. And again, all of these, I think you can see, tie together to us. And they tie together to our Christian lives. He's not directing it so much at that, but I think you can see that whenever you think about what is written. He quotes Peter Drucker, who is a well-known individual in a business and consulting world.

He promotes people continuing to be productive in their lives, primarily thinking of it in a sense of helping others or serving others. But Drucker says we may not be inventors or innovators or pioneers, but once we see kind of where we're headed, talking to people in general, once we see where we're headed, we can do it. What we need is the will to live more for meaning than for money or status or applause. We need the intention to serve a higher purpose than fulfilling our own selfish wants and needs. You know, again, he's not preaching that in a sermon, but he's saying that to people who in many ways are very successful and yet who are aging and who need to be able to look beyond, they need to be able to look to the future. Here again, there are several ones that they have mentioned here regarding just purpose. That one is regarding purpose. Here is another quote. Again, I've got these all on paper. I don't have the chapter headings or anything. But the next one says, when the purpose line begins to drop off, it's just a matter of time before the lifeline drops off too. The average person dies between two and seven years after retirement. And it's simply because they've lost their purpose in life.

For most of them, you know, some of you are already dying.

Well, he's making a statement about what he's observed. You know, if people, you know, live productive lives and then they retire, they don't have anything, they don't have any reason for doing anything, they don't have any purpose, then you find they often, you know, they don't live too long. For most of them, their purpose was wrapped up in their work. And once they're no longer working, then they feel they have no meaning. And again, see, that could be easily applicable to, you know, someone, you know, whether they understood anything about God or not. And clearly, I think we ought to think about it. Here's a couple of other quotes that he makes regarding just retirement. He says the old model, you know, this model for those over 60, this is the old model. A model for those over 60 was pretty grim. 40 years of work, followed by a period of generally aimless retirement and death soon after. See that? That's not continuing to finish well. He says those who make the most out of life will decide they are not going to live without purpose in the second half of their lives. And that's really what he was, of course, teaching. He says after retirement, people need to replace their work with something else. Meaningful work that is helpful to other people. Free of ordinary stress. I mean, you may not have the same type of stress that you have if you've got a driving, you know, time clock that you're always needing to meet. But meaningful work. And I think this statement is very important for us to think about. Meaningful work that benefits others.

And this is actually critical that benefits another person. Because it might be one other person that we are doing, whatever we're doing, in order to help them, to show them concern. And in many ways, he mentions it ought to be fun. It ought to be something that you enjoy to do. Of course, talking to someone who maybe has been working in a given field, maybe they loved it. Maybe they hated it. You know, maybe they didn't like it. But if they want to continue to have purpose, then they want to figure out how to make a meaningful contribution to others, or at least to one other, that you find to be fun. You know, that you want to do, that you like to do, because that benefits you. The loss of sense of purpose that often comes with retirement actually turns out to be devastating. And again, this is something some of you may be able to identify with. I had a section here about there's a downside to no longer learning, no longer growing.

Some will retire and yet usually not live very long. Others keep on doing what they're doing, but they lose their enthusiasm, feeling less alive. I mean, I can see these categories. And then the final one would be the third group keeps doing what they're doing, but they're looking for ways to make a contribution to serve others. They feel that they've been given a lot and they're looking for a way to give back. Again, that seems to make sense to me. Actually, he has a section here on calling, which would be clearly applicable to our situation and the fact that we understand a calling. But as he writes about it, he says, a person with a calling is a person who has purpose and meaning that will not end with the termination of a job.

Those who are called will go and find new directions by virtue of how they're wired by God and what they've been called to do. That could clearly be applicable, I think, to us, not just how we're wired or how we are as a person or our own personality, but certainly God's intervention in our lives gives us a great deal of benefit. Regarding calling, he says, we can retire from jobs, but we can never retire from our calling. We may make changes in our job, and sometimes those were what we wanted, and sometimes those are of necessity, but we can never retire from our calling. Calling gives us a sense of task or responsibility right up to the last day on earth.

Those who have a deep sense of what their gifts are, what their purpose in life is, they're calling, they are much more alive. We never retire from our calling. He says, I love that. Calling continues right up until the last day. Our work may not last, but our calling never dies.

Another section, of course, that he mentions here somewhat heavily is just serving other people, serving others. He says, be a cheerleader for another person, or another peer, or a younger person. It's a great opportunity to bless their plans and to give them legitimacy. See, if we're wondering or thinking, well, what can I do? What can I do if I'm finding myself in the later part of my life and none of us know how long we're going to live? We don't know when Christ is going to return. We don't know how many years between now. My dad died when he was 82, and so if I think, if I live as long as he did, I'll live 17 more years. Well, maybe I will, maybe I won't. I hope Christ returns before then, but I want to try to fulfill a purpose until Christ returns and do that with excitement and be energetic about it. He says, top performers are genuinely humble. I guess many of these are his conclusions after listening to people's stories and writing about how they succeeded. Top performers are generally humble and fully devoted to a mission. That, again, can have a direct application. The purpose of a team is to make the strengths of each person effective and his or her weaknesses irrelevant.

That actually could be easily applied to a church or us as a group. All together, we have a lot of strengths and we all have weaknesses, but we can minimize those things with working together. He says success is about getting, but significance is about giving back. We need to be engaged in work that has meaning and purpose. The most meaningful work involves helping other people.

Helping other people. This is what he's concluding after. Here he's got a couple of statements he makes about attitude. Of course, there are a lot of different statements that could be made about attitude, but he said, in aging well, to age well, you need to be thoughtful, relational, have a sense of humor, good spirit as opposed to being critical, judgmental, bitter, and cranky. That's pretty self-explanatory. If you're going to finish well and age well, maybe focusing on those positive elements, I guess this is his conclusion. And, of course, he adds to this to be thankful for everything that I've been given. And, again, I think these are significant things. He also mentions a couple of things that might be of help to us regarding just regrets. Because sometimes we look back and we regret this or that about our lives. He says obstacles to finishing well, one of those, a big one, is regret. He says, I see this especially in people who simply can't ask for God's forgiveness or who can't forgive themselves for the stains on their copybook. That's the way he's writing it, of course. Don't let regret turn into hatred at the end of your life. That, again, I think is a good thought. Another, there was a second one he had here, regard how to avoid regrets. And, of course, he mentions regrets as not really maybe grasping or appreciating the forgiveness that is available and that we not only should ask for, but that we should learn to extend. He says, how to avoid regrets? I delegate all of that stuff to Christ, who amazingly volunteered to accept the horrible mess that all of us have made, and he knows how to dispose of those sins and failings for me. Again, you know, at least some of the people that he was writing about were religious orientation, but that has a focus for us. And then the last one I'll read here is just regarding motivation. Do we have a personal mission statement? Do we think about, you know, what is our mission? What is our purpose? How would we define that? Because often, if we don't define it, we may think about it or mull it over or worry about it or fret about it, but we need to define. What is my mission statement?

He says, we need to have a sense or a project or task to pursue so that we don't drift into uselessness. If we have a direction, if we have something we're wanting to accomplish, then we're going to be, you know, more meaningful in our lives. So those are just some of the things that I thought I would read to you here to begin with as, you know, I mentioned this book to you, and again, it's written from a standpoint of trying to motivate people in the latter parts of their lives.

But certainly, it's amazing to me, whenever you read that type of material, it's amazing to see how that he summarizes two extremely important aspects of our lives that all of us should clearly understand. One of those is having a purpose. See, that's what he was saying. Yeah, everyone, regardless of their age or regardless whether or not they are working or retired or, you know, living, you know, into their 70s or 80s, we need to have a purpose.

And of course, all of us, as we know, as God has drawn us to be a part of his great work and his great family, you know, we have, in a sense, an overwhelming purpose, and yet being reminded of that, continually keeping that in mind, continually knowing that, well, to grow in a divine nature. That's a never-ending project. That's not what I'm going to complete, but that's one I certainly want to be pursuing.

And then the second one is, again, one I know that you could identify with. Involve yourself in serving other people. Have a purpose and involve yourself in service to other people. Now, those are highlighted throughout the book that I was mentioning, as far as how people can continue to have meaning, how they can continue to thrive, how they continue to have zeal for life.

And that certainly is what we want to do. I want to go through, let's start in 2 Timothy, there's a number of different verses that we could look at regarding this. And Tom even mentioned one, one of the memory verses that, you know, they had at camp was one that I'll cover here a little later.

But in 2 Timothy chapter 4, 2 Timothy, of course, said Timothy is a book that Paul wrote to Timothy. He wrote to him as a younger man, as a younger minister. Paul had a lot to offer. He had a lot of encouragement, a lot of correction or direction. He had a lot of support or motivation for Timothy. That's what he wanted to motivate Timothy, even as a younger man, to continue to do his work. But here in 2 Timothy 4, I think we ought to, we can read this, and you can see that Paul is making somewhat of a concluding statement.

He's, it almost sounds like he's, I know I'm going to die pretty soon. I know it's not going to be too long. Here in verse 6, 2 Timothy 4, verse 6, he says, As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. See, he seems to sense that, you know, I don't have a whole lot longer to live.

Verse 7, though, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now, there's three different statements there that all are pretty similar, but whenever he's talking about fighting a good fight, you know, that's clearly involving ourselves in the spiritual warfare, the spiritual battle that we struggle with every day. Satan doesn't give up. He continues to try to tear us down.

And, you know, when we remember that and we are mindful of that, then we're able to produce. He says, I finished the race. You know, he hadn't given up. Clearly, you know, he had plenty of problems. He had plenty of, you know, beatings and shipwrecks and things that would have been, you know, limiting, I would have thought, for not only him but for any of us. But he says, I've run through the tape.

I've gone all the way to the end. I'm through the tape, and I've kept the faith. I have remained faithful. Now, we can say, yes, well, that's clearly what we need to do, but we need to actively do that. We need to actively, you know, remain faithful to Jesus Christ. So, I want to mention three things here that I think tie together with what I've already covered and what all of us perhaps can think about.

And I think it's good for us to all consider what is it, to me, that would define finishing wealth. What is it? If we think about that, then it's more likely that we're going to do it.

We think about it, maybe if we write it down. You know, what does it mean to me to finish wealth and then to pursue that? You know, that could be of a great benefit to us. The first thing I'll mention is that we always want to continue to develop. You know, that's an encouragement that we have throughout the Bible. We want to continue to grow, continue to develop. Philippians 3, this is one that Tom mentioned, trying to get the kids to memorize this. It ought to be something that we've memorized. Philippians 3, starting in verse 12. Paul says, not that I've already obtained or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own because Jesus Christ has made me His own.

See, we've been drawn and called to have a purpose in life, a purpose greater than simply just putting in a number of years or achieving a certain level of success in this world. And we're called to be successful in the world to come. We're called to be prepared for the world to come. We have a great deal to look forward to. He says, beloved, I don't consider that I've already made it my own yet. He says, I don't think I've achieved it yet because I know I need to finish my life well.

But he goes on to say this one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. Verse 14, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ. And let those of us then who are mature be of this same mind.

And if you think differently about anything than this too, God will reveal to you, only let us hold fast to what we have attained. He says we all, no matter what age we are, and of course he was writing this at a little older age. I don't think he died probably in his sixties. Of course, he was persecuted a great deal and ultimately then put to death in doing the job that God had commissioned him to do. But he was saying, I want to continue to press toward the high calling that God has given me. And so we're going to continue to learn. It's interesting to see here in Luke chapter 8, this is a verse that identifies, in a sense, a characteristic of those who are in the category of the sower and the seed, the category of the good soil. People who are producing, people who are growing, people who are producing 30 or 60 or 100. And again, I don't know how we correctly evaluate. Which am I? Which am I? Am I doing 30? Am I doing 70? Or should it also just be, I need to do more? I need to continue to expand. I need to continue to grow. But in verse 15, again talking about the good soil and lukeate, as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, they hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and then they bear fruit with patient endurance.

See, that's again a description that we want to fit into. But unless we remind ourselves, well, I need to continue to grow. I need to continue to develop in the fruits that I see that God wants me to grow in. And, you know, we could jump back here to John 15, because clearly, as Jesus was telling his disciples, I'm calling you to a great calling. I'm calling you to have a great purpose in life, to preach the gospel, to preach about the kingdom of God, to preach about the king of that kingdom, Jesus Christ. And for most of them, they were going to give their lives for that message and in that service. And yet here he says, you can't do that by yourself. You can't do that on your own. And so again, as we're thinking about developing or continuing to grow, we have to have a good heart to want to do that. We have to have a receptive heart to want to do that. And we have to know that it requires our effort to press forward. But here in chapter 15, Jesus says, I'm the true vine. And down in verse 4, he says, I want you to abide in me.

Abide in me as I abide in you, just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I'm the vine and you are the branches. Those of you who abide in me and I and them are going to bear much fruit. Because again, apart from me, you can do nothing. We have the capacity to grow. We have the capacity to develop. We need to determine, well, how am I going to grow? How am I developing? What kind of fruit am I bearing? And even down in verse 8, he says, my father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit.

So clearly, it's applicable to all of us, no matter what our age, to be bearing fruit by relying on Jesus Christ and by relying on the power and the strength of him living in us and abiding in him and in his love. So that's the first point I want to make, having that purpose of continually growing. The second one was also mentioned in this book, coming to see no matter what age we are, that we have a responsibility to come to be like Jesus and serve other people. He said, I gave my life as a service to not only those of you who are a part of my disciples and those who will become a part of the church, but actually for everybody. He had given his life in sacrifice for mankind. But see, in a sense, you know, what do we have here in the Church of God? We have eight or ten or twelve thousand people making up the United Church of God. And yet here in Fulton, we have 20 or 30 of us who come together most every week. And in a sense, we are a support group for each other. Or at least we should be support and encouragement to serve other people. But we want to have a thing within the church, stand up. I live in the group and I need to support me, purpose and meaning. Chapter 10, right? You see, whole zoopin? Where you have an interskite in a P.P. and hatch? Sit throughout their eyes, die. Add the papers till the end. That's what we read for. But in Hebrews 6, no Christians here that want to focus on the Greek version of what our origins be. Set us whole, the God-whole, the Wearing, for who has come at his all to be successful. The spirit of all and granted a bit of knowing God and coming to know Jesus Christ through a relationship with them that's empowered by the Spirit of God. That's empowered by the receipt of God's Spirit and by us growing in our understanding of God and Jesus Christ. So he says in verse 24, since that's the case, let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. See, how is it that I can do that? Is that something the minister is supposed to do? Is that something the elders are supposed to do? Is that something the deacons are supposed to do? Is that something that everybody is supposed to be doing as a part of the support group that we are for one another as we, again, come together in love and provoking one another to love and good deeds? In verse 25, not neglecting to meet together, as is the manner of some, but encouraging one another or exhorting one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. See, again, we know, and certainly as you watch world affairs, you see the Middle East just continually foaming at the mouth. It is just, it's crazy to watch what is going on around the area in Jerusalem, which is, of course, a focal point of prophetic information in the Bible. And yet you also see the same predicted things about the decline of any powers who ignore God and who resist God in virtually every aspect of life. That's what we see here in the United States, a continual undermining and declining in ability to help, in ability to contribute, ability to serve others. And again, that may well simply be God bringing that to pass so that the real solution can come. But as this mentions, this section here, verse 23 to 25, it says we want to be encouraging to one another. We want to serve one another.

It also says here in 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy, the latter part of it, chapter 6. Again, Paul had a good amount of information to give Timothy because he knew that he would be dying. He would no longer be there. Timothy needed to have the information that not only for himself and for others who were working in the ministry, but also for all of us down through the ages before Christ returns.

Here in 1 Timothy, he says in chapter 6, he's, of course, going over several things here in chapter 6. I'll read some of this other as we get toward the end. But in verse 17, there's a small section here that he uses kind of as a conclusion. 1 Timothy 6, verse 17, it says, for those who in this present age are rich.

And again, I would think, as I was thinking in reading this book, that I was mentioning to you about finishing well. Most of those people, I'm sure, were very rich. They were probably, you know, greatly blessed financially. And yet this is directed to Christians. Here in 1 Timothy, he says, for those who are rich, at least in this age, command them not to be haughty or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather to set their hopes on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. And in verse 18, he says, they are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, and to be ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold on the life that really is life.

I don't know how the King James says that. What is the last part of verse 19 say in the New King James for any of you who have that? Eternal life. Okay, the description here in the Revised Standard is, life that is really life.

You know, we're preparing for everlasting life, eternal life. But I thought that phrase is, life that is really life, is the way we prepare. And yet what he's saying is, in a sense, learn to give back, learn to serve, learn to care, be generous in serving and helping and giving to others. Here in Luke 2 you see, Luke chapter 2 you see what appears to be an older lady, a widow who made a great deal of a contribution.

She was there in the temple whenever Jesus as a baby was brought by Mary and Joseph. But here in Luke chapter 2, again, we might be thinking, well, how can we make a contribution? How can we serve? What can we do? Well, you know, I certainly don't want some of you having to go out and try to re-roof somebody's house because I clearly don't want to do that myself. Now, some of you may well be able to do that and wish to do that.

Some of you, I would probably probably say that wouldn't be the smartest move. I can't even get up on a ladder without wondering whether the thing is going to teeter over. And yet, not after 16 years. Well, I'm saying that, you know, I couldn't even handle the softball field a couple of years ago. So, that's, you know, after a while you decide there are certain things you will wisely not do or you will at least much more carefully plan to do those and maybe with a little more help than what you otherwise would have thought.

You know, I've done a lot of pretty stupid things over the years. Things that my wife could always say, oh, I told you not to do that. But if I wasn't smart enough to figure out, well, I shouldn't do that, you know, as we age we maybe should grow in seeing what, you know, what we can do, what we should do, what we need to ask help for.

But in this case, it was clearly something that Anna was doing that any of us could do. It says in verse 36, there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanel of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of 84. So here we have someone identified as being 84. But what she was doing, you know, apparently she was to be waiting there until Christ would come, and she would acknowledge him, and she would speak about the child to all those who were in looking for the redemption in Jerusalem.

That was a part of what she was designated to do, and so I'm sure that's why this is included in Luke's record. But what I want to say, or what I want to point out, is in verse 37, she never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and praying night and day. You know, she was. I mean, there's no limit for any of us on being able to pray or fast or be concerned about others, again, whatever age we are. There is no limit. This particular example is someone who was 84.

And yet, you know, I know all of us pray for one another. We're concerned about one another.

And yet, even as we age, that may become even a more prominent part of our service. And so I shouldn't think, well, I'm not doing anything, or I can't do anything, or I don't feel like doing anything. Well, maybe I need to think of the things that I can do that will serve others and do those. Do those because, as we've said, having a purpose and fulfilling that purpose and continuing to grow and desiring to serve others in whatever way we can think of that we can do, you know, that's going to enable us to finish well. The last thing I'll mention is clearly just the fact that we want to persevere. We want to continue to the end. Matthew 24 verse 13 says, the one who endures unto the end is the one who's going to be saved. And we're all familiar with that. It's right before Jesus made a statement about, you know, preaching of the gospel around the world as a witness. It said that's the mission of the church. That's a part of the job that we're to do, but it talks about us enduring. And of course, you know, this is a part of what we see Paul mentioning as well. Again to Timothy here in 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6.

He says in verse 11.

1 Timothy 6 verse 11, as for you, man of God, so he was telling Timothy, shun all of this. And so he'd been telling him what to get away from, but pursue righteousness and godliness and faith and love and endurance and gentleness.

These are qualities that we can pursue. These are qualities that we can feel that, you know, that we can grow in. And in verse 12 he says, fight the good fight of faith. 1 Timothy 6 verse 12. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called, and for which you have made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses, and in the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ, who in his testimony before Pilate made the great confession, I charge you to keep the commandments without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at this right time, he who is the blessed and the only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, it is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to him be honor and glory or eternal dominion. This is what we're pushing toward. I mean, this is obviously tied together with persevering or enduring unto the end, and we're told to run the race that we have, to run that race with patience. We don't know how long it goes, but we do want to be, you know, productive. And one other verse here that I'll look to in this regard in Luke chapter 12. See, since we've been given a marvelous purpose, and since we know that the example of Jesus was to be a servant to others, you know, we want to look toward, you know, the end of our lives, and even as was mentioned earlier, you know, we're a week closer to the kingdom than we were last time. You know, each week we're getting closer to the time when God is going to intervene in world affairs, and a change is what we're looking for. But here in Luke 12, he is recording here what Jesus had said starting in verse 22 about not worrying. See, sometimes we can let worry and difficulty get in our way. But he says in verse, well, here in verse 29, he says, don't keep striving for what you're to eat, what you're to drink. Just don't keep worrying, for it is the nations of the world that strive after these things. And your father knows that you need all these things. See, God is well aware of our needs, and we can bring that to God and then not worry about it, as we're told here.

But he says, indeed, or instead, strive for the kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, verse 32, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. See, God wants us to be a part of the kingdom of God. He wants us to be successful. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to be productive. He wants us to be continually growing and continually serving. And he truly wants us to finish well as we await. We know what the answer is. We await the return of Jesus. We await the time when he's going to make a tremendous transformation on this earth. And we await that time, in a sense, with anticipation. And so, you know, I want to just conclude this. I hope this can be helpful to all of us, again, no matter what our age, that we desire to finish well. And again, if we look at what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4, 2 Timothy chapter 4 is where he mentioned...2 Timothy chapter 4, he mentions in verse 6, as for me, I've already been poured out as a libation in the time of my departure has come. He was saying that at the end, toward the end of his life. But he could say that I didn't give up on my calling. He could say, I didn't lose my purpose. I didn't stop serving people. He could say all of that, and he concludes, you know, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And of course, that's what we want to be able to say at the end of our lives. We want to say we remain faithful. We served other people. We devoted ourselves to the purpose that God has given us. And then in verse 8, he says, from now on, there is reserved for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day. And so he anticipated receiving what God had promised. He anticipated receiving what? Even those, as you read in Hebrews 11, the people who died never having received the promise. You know, Paul was looking at the promise here, and he was saying that crown of righteousness is what God holds out before us. But he wants us to pursue that. He wants us to be excited about that. And he says, that crown of righteousness I await, and the Lord, as he returns, he will give that to me on that day. But not only to me, he says, he says, I see what God has done and what he's doing, what he plans to do, what he's powerful enough to achieve. I'm agreeing with him. I love what he is doing. But he says, not only will he give that to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

For all of us who are determined to finish well. So whether we're 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, whatever age we are, I hope that we can determine that well, we've been given the tools. We've been given what God wants us to have, to be able, to be successful. And success in this light would be, you know, to ultimately have that crown of righteousness. And yet he does want us to finish well.