Finish What You Start

Companion Devotional to ‘The Daring Desk Makeover’
Ecclesiastes 7:8
The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

This year the Lord has put upon my heart to focus on finishing things that I have started.

I will be the first to confess, that I have more projects that have been started and not finished, books read through to about the 4th or 5th chapter and then sidetracked, and hobbies eagerly embarked upon, but not finished, than I would like to admit.
but more importantly, efforts in friendship not seen to fruition, Christmas cards planned but not distributed, promises of dates to visit with people that I love and genuinely want to invest in, but not put into the calendar.

currently we live in a culture that caters to putting the least amount of effort into relationships, jobs, hobbies and projects, and not experiencing any consequences for these actions, and while this can sometimes make finishing the things that I start more of a challenge, It should not ever be an excuse.
moreover finishing what we start is a characteristic that comes from our heavenly Father, and should be embraced with the full gravity that that entails.
And while Ecclesiastes 7:8 very clearly an eloquently tells us this, it is not the only verse that bears testament to this attribute.

Philippians 1:6 We are promised that the almighty who began a good working us will bring it to completion.

John 4:34 Jesus’s food, His satiation, His satisfaction was to do the will of his father and to accomplish His work.

2nd Corinthians 8:11, Finish what you start and be just as eager to complete what you have begun as you were when you started.

one last thought:
What a beautiful marriage these verses are of the physical and the spiritual.
The encouragement and practicality of finishing what we start is not only a good habit but is often a necessity to avoid unnecessary waste, in order to maintain healthy relationships, and in order to be the kind of workers, and employees, that we should be as Christians.
But, what a blessing That it doesn’t end there, that this attribute of God and characteristic of our Lord and Savior, is indeed also spiritual And that our salvation is the ultimate beautiful fulfillment of what has been started in us. I am so grateful and thankful that our Lord Jesus Christ does not leave us where we start but continues to grow us in our faith, and our relationship with him as the completion of that work draws closer to it’s fulfillment and heavenly end.