How To Finish Well
Many people, leaders, pastors…start off strong with thriving businesses, ministries and families, only to end up in a place of failure at some point in the journey. Why? What happens along the way that sabotages a good finish?
In 2 Kings 22 we see a young man named Josiah who becomes King. Scripture says he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and completely followed the ways of his father, David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”
Longevity principle #1: Refuse to allow compromises in your walk with God. Keep your gaze fixed on Him - don’t turn to the right or to the left.
For some of us, these compromises might look like:
Prioritizing our career over our relationship with God.
Allowing lust into our hearts and minds.
An unhealthy love of money.
Bitterness, pride or unresolved anger.
As Josiah grew older, he began a project to reconstruct the house of the Lord. While doing this they found the Book of Law hidden within the temple. He had some of his men ask the prophetess named Huldah what the book meant. She gave prophetic words to the King as she explained that his humility would bring him and his ancestors peace, but for anyone else refusing to repent, destruction would come.
Longevity principle #2: When you fail, be quick to repent before the Lord. Repentance is not merely saying you’re sorry, but a turning of the heart.
Immediately King Josiah began the work of tearing down articles made for false gods inside the temple! He also tore down the quarters for the male prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord.
Longevity principle #3: Remove the things in your life that have kept you bound or kept generations before you bound. If you don’t, it’s not a matter of IF they will destroy you, but WHEN.
Josiah received the greatest compliment in scripture. “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did - with all his heart and all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.” - 2 Kings 23:25
Gutsy Faith Challenge: Make a commitment to not just start well, but to finish well. That decision will guide your actions and reactions as you mature in your faith.
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