Finishing Well

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

He's just running wherever his legs take him.

The decisions you make today are shaping the story someone will tell about your life tomorrow.

Inspiring, because we all have the opportunity to live a meaningful life.

"The far side of the wilderness."

"Bring my people out of Egypt."

“Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (Numbers 20:12)

Leaders are held to a higher standard.

"Then let someone else finish the job"

We see a man who finished well.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

He was talking about making the days that remain count.

#1. He Gave Them Words to Remember.

He taught them about worship, justice, family, caring for the poor, honesty, leadership, generosity.

And how much he wanted them to experience the fullness of God's blessings.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ( Ephesians 4:29)

"Lord, help me speak to others in a way that leaves no regrets. Help me say today the things I would want them to remember for the rest of their lives."

Say it today.

#2. He Invested His Life in the Next Generation.

It's what continued in the lives of others for generations to come.

Have they been prepared?

He was learning how to walk with God.

"Be strong and courageous and lead these people well."

He understood that success isn't measured by how indispensable you become, but by what you've invested in others.

Throughout Scripture, faithful people pour their lives into those who carry the work forward.

Someone is watching how you live and learning from your example.

Spend time with them.

Moses gave people words worth remembering.

#3. He Fulfilled His Calling Like No One Else Could.

It was faithfulness.

There is also only one you.

God has never asked you to fulfill someone else's calling.

The goal is to become everything God created you to be.

But we each have the opportunity to be the person God has created us to be.

Were we faithful to the God who called us?

"Look at what your life has helped make possible."

The story never ends where we expect it to.

Finishing well doesn't mean living without failure.

This runner should simply start running the race.

The finish line awaits us all.