Better at the End - Pt 2

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:12-16 ESV).

Yesterday we began to look at the principle of the end being better than the beginning. Today I want to continue that theme. It is this hope that provides us with the strength to go on. All of us who have reached a bit of age have discovered that the journey is filled with varying degrees of difficulty and challenge much the same as a cross-country race. The question then is raised as to why a sobering dose of realistic retrospect could be better than a hopeful high of optimistic prospect? Let me make some observations:  First, wisdom does not want to build its house on the sand of fantasy. It wants to builds on the solid rock of truth. The dreams and hopes for our future life on this earth are wonderful and good; however, we have all known some degree of disappointment in the failure to realize those dreams and hopes.  Second, at the end of a thing, more than at its beginning, we see our need for a better, more lasting hope than anything we could possibly build here. As great as this life may be, it is nothing compared to that which awaits the believer. I have a lot of different kinds of wood in my little shop for various projects. There’s red-heart cedar, yellow poplar, black walnut, red oak, and various sizes of old barn wood collected through the years. I can see the potential of each of those pieces; however, they simply look like a pile of scrap compared to a finished product. Our lives are like that.  Third, because an ending, more than a beginning, exposes our idols things or people in which we have placed false hope and from whom we have drawn a misplaced sense of identity we can experience a wonderful cleansing. Endings are better than beginnings because they more powerfully point us to God as our only hope. For the longest time sunset has always been my favorite time of the day. Maybe it’s because I have finished the day. Whatever the reason, the spiritual truth is the same. The end is better than the beginning or anything between! Do not dread the end. It will only open the full vista of God’s glory and grace!