Finishing Well

Monday I lead our devotions/prayer time at the office, generating quite a bit of discussion after posing the question; How would you define a successful second half of life?  After a bit of discussion, I read a brief statement that I had clipped from an article some time ago.  Of the approximately 3,000 individuals named in the Bible, only about 100 have enough information recorded about them to evaluate their lives.  Of those 100, this article said;

“In a study of 100 people in the Bible, one-third finished well—most failed in the last half of life.  Although there are many reasons, one foundational cause stands out.  ‘They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.’  (Jeremiah 2:5)  A person in the second half of life will either learn to trust God, turn from one worthless idol to another, or become over-whelmed with life.  Review the default settings of your life, if things continue as they are now, what will the rest of your life look like?”  As I thought of my life, I realized that there have been times when I can be divided between trusting God, holding on to idols and feeling over-whelmed all at the same time.  I found it a good challenge to evaluate the depth of my trust in God in every area of my life and to focus upon those areas where my trust is leaning to other things or people.

This was a good challenge for each of our lives, especially mine, and a good launching pad for praying for our coworkers serving around the world.  Before praying for our coworkers I read from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, mentioning some of his prayer focus for them.

“…We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.  All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.  We also pray that you will be strengthened with all of his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.  May you be filled with joy”.  (Colossians 1:9-11)

Thanks so much for your prayers for me and the work here.  I really appreciate you!

May you each be filled with His joy!

Chuck