Finish well

Like any teacher, I look forward to the last days of school. Mornings seems brighter, the air seems lighter. An openness pervades our smiles and deepens our laughter. The goal reaches out to meet us head on, and we grasp its wispy edges until the pithy core of completion squeezes between our fingers.

Two more days, then summer. Two more days, then de-scheduling. Two more days, then I begin my annual reading of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Breathe.

But two days is still two days. How I walk this path still matters. I'm not done yet.

This week I've been reading in the Gospel of Luke, chapters 20-21, about Jesus' last days with His disciples before His crucifixion. With typical kind forethought, Christ prepares them for their part in His ordeal while sharing an intimate supper, the Passover. This is it--the last time. Unawares, they argue about status, anticipating His grand coup over the Romans. Little do they know the greatest coup in history will seem like the ultimate defeat. 

Jesus does not break into hysterics at the thought of crucifixion just hours away. He does what is the least expected action: He serves them. He humbles Himself to the status of foot-washing slave. He blesses them. He encourages them. He lovingly warns them of their desertion, then paints the hope of restoration in clear tones.

He knows what I so need to remember each and every day: He isn't done yet. His charge is not complete. Two days. One day. Final hours. Each step of the way, Jesus persistently, tenaciously obeys His Father and seeks the good of His sheep.

How fickle my own determination grows as the road lengthens, the hill steepens, or the finish line distances itself from me. How complacent my journeying when all seems to shorten, smooth out, come easily.

But Jesus...oh my Savior....He stays the course as from the first. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8 NKJ). 

Judas. That one word conjures totally different emotions. Luke 21:4 says so matter-of-factly, "So he went his way...." Proverbs 14:12 states that there is a way that seems right to a man, but its ways lead to death. Judas persistently, tenaciously pursues that way, his own way. The way of the enemy.

My prayer today is this: Heavenly Father, so often it's the last steps before the finish line that are the most telling. However I have run the race this school year, however many times I've fallen and gotten back up, or sprinted miraculously through a difficult season, let these last steps be the best of all. Not for my own glory or even for my children's  benefit, but because my Savior, my eternal greatest Example, stayed true to the last moment. Help me keep Him like a beacon before me.

Help me finish well.

"When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Colossians 3:3