Fall Short of the Finish Line
We will start out with a well known verse that is found in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” and the bit we are interested in is the “Come Short,” portion, and to draw it out a little bit with a very sad case that happens from time to time. The News sometimes shows the embarrassing situation of a runner, getting close to the finish line after a very long and gruelling race, and falls short. The race is all over for them, there is no completion, no chance to “Tick that one off,” all their weeks months or even years of training and concentrated efforts, have come to no reward, they have fallen short.
They have spent many years training daily, watching their diet and everything, running and cycling often hundreds of kilometres a week, Gym training, Coaches and so much more, and then they never even get to cross the Finish Line. We all feel for them, so very much effort, and yet there is so little to show for it. Paul has this captured for us in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring [it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
Jesus Christ is so soon to return to Planet Earth, he will then shut down all Councils, all Powers, all Governments, all Kings and Rulers; it is all over as the Kingdom of God is the only rule from that point on into everlasting Eternity, it is only God’s Children under God’s rule, under King Jesus who is then “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” There are nobody else about but dedicated and loyal subjects as all that are in opposition to this Kingdom have been charged with “High Treason” against the Kingdom of Heaven,” they have been Tried, Judged, found guilty, and receive the death sentence. Paul gives us this admonition in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
You cannot appeal to your Pastor/Minister/Priest or Leader to plead your case, for there is only one Judge and Advocate, 2 Timothy 4:1 “I charge [thee] therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.” Romans 13:11 “And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)”
It is far too late to try and make a change, as when Jesus Christ turns up, your decision has already been made by the very lifestyle you have lived, your path and intention has been carefully recorded in the books of heaven, and the verdict is final; just like the Sheep-Goats, Wheat-Tares, Foolish-Wise Bridesmaids, Saved-Lost, Ready-Unready. Right now is the time for each of us to get ourselves and then to keep ourselves right.
Quote: “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23, 24, R.S.V. We need Jesus every moment. To lose His love from our hearts means much. Yet He Himself says: “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” . . . The religion of many is very much like an icicle–freezing cold. The hearts of not a few are still un-melted, un-subdued. They cannot touch the hearts of others, because their own hearts are not surcharged with the blessed love that flows from the heart of Christ. . . Genuine religion is based upon a belief in the Scriptures. God’s Word is to be believed without question. No part of it is to be cut and carved to fit certain theories. Men are not to exalt human wisdom by sitting in judgment upon God’s Word. The Bible was written by holy men of old, as they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit; and this Book contains all that we know for certain and all that we can ever hope to learn in regard to God and Christ, unless, like Paul, we are taken to the third heaven.
The life of a Christian is a life regulated by the Word of God just as it reads. All the truths of the Old and the New Testaments form a complete whole. These truths we are to cherish, believe, and obey. To the true disciple, faith in God’s Word is a living, active principle; for “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). By faith man believes that he receives the righteousness of Christ. Faith, in itself, is an act of the mind. Jesus Himself is the author and the finisher of our faith… Those who are united with Christ through the daily, hourly exercise of the faith which works by love and purifies the soul receive the forgiveness of their sins, and are sanctified unto eternal life.” {RC 77}
Dear Reader; are you, am I united with Christ through the daily, hourly exercise of the faith which works by love and purifies the soul to receive the forgiveness of our sins, and are sanctified unto eternal life? Let us each train so that we do not fall short of the finish line. May you never have to repeat this verse; Jeremiah 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Please do not fall short of the finish line by letting Satan have the victory over you so that you fall short of the finish line, Heaven.
