To paraphrase a familiar adage, “the road to failure is paved with good intentions.” Whenever we set lofty goals or start major projects, we’re usually filled with good intentions. We make plans, envision how we’ll carry them out, and imagine the final result. But have you ever started a project, became sidetracked, and somehow never got around to finishing it?
It might be accurate to say that anyone who’s never started something without finishing it clearly hasn’t attempted to do very much. Whether it’s constructing a birdhouse, creating a painting or sculpture, renovating a house, doing some knitting or crocheting, making household repairs, or writing a book, there are times when the good intentions we had at the outset are forgotten or discarded. Maybe it’s being distracted, discouraged, or simply having determined it wasn’t worth the effort.
I’ve had the privilege of writing, co-authoring and editing more than 20 books, but I’ve also started a few that never got finished. Maybe I’ll get back to a couple of them, I keep telling myself, but one or two that started off as ‘good ideas’ turned out to be not good enough.
Have you ever driven down a highway and noticed a building that appears only half-finished? Judging from the state of incompletion and the weeds surrounding it, it seems someone either ran out of money, initiative, or both.
Jesus Christ referred to this while talking with His disciples about the cost of following Him. He was explaining the sacrifices that might be necessary – “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be My disciple…” (Luke 14:26). Then He switched to a metaphor:
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:29-30).
Sadly, there have been many who seemed to have responded to Jesus’ offer of salvation and redemption with great enthusiasm, only to take a detour at some point down the road. That’s a topic for another day.
Thankfully, the God we worship and serve has no problem with finishing things. We see this emphasized throughout the Scriptures, starting with the very first chapter: “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good…. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work” (Genesis 1:31-2:2).
When Jesus was completing His three-year ministry, going to the cross to become the once-and-for-all atoning sacrifice for our sins, His last words were, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He wasn’t thinking about his final breath, because three days later He was resurrected from the dead. Jesus was saying the work He had come to do was completed. As Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Just as the Bible’s first book shows God finishing His work of creation, its final book does so as well. Showing the apostle John in a vision that one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth to replace the first heaven and earth, the Lord instructed him, “‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true…. It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End…’”(Revelation 21:5-6).
But there’s another important aspect about God’s unfailing commitment to finishing what He’s started. It pertains to you and me, directly and personally. Writing to encourage believers in ancient Philippi, the apostle Paul made this assertion: “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
Once you have responded to the Lord’s loving offer of mercy and grace, so that we won’t receive what we do deserve and will receive what we don’t deserve, it’s like He puts a sign on our backs reading, “Under Construction.” Because what theologians term “justification” – the act of being saved – is just the start of our spiritual journey. For the remainder of our days, we’ll be experiencing “sanctification,” the day-to-day process of being transformed into the image of Christ.
There are days, I know, when it doesn’t seem like anything’s happening. It might even feel like for every two steps we take forward, we take 3-4 steps back. But from God’s perspective we’re right on schedule. Like a master painter laboring day after day to create an unforgettable work of art, the Lord’s busily removing all our rough edges and adding polish where needed, “carrying it on to completion.”
One of my favorite verses in the Bible fills me with amazement every time I read it. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when [Jesus] appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). In other words, if you’re reading this, the Lord’s promise to you is, “I’m not finished with you yet.”
