Lessons from the Heart
Finishing well
By Pastor Chad Hoesman

We all know what it's like, don't we? We all have unfinished things cluttering up the attic of life: We have the half-read book and the half-finished home improvement project. We have the apology letter that we started but never sent. We have the diet we started but gave up on. Some of us may have the degree we were so excited about but never finished. We have the full "inbox" that just sits there or the phone calls we never returned.

However, it can be much more serious than that: maybe it's the abandoned child or the marriage we gave up on. It might be the bills we never paid or the promises we never kept. We go through life leaving behind a long list of unfinished projects and unfulfilled dreams. There are a very few who can come to the end of their days on this planet and say, "I finished exactly what I set out to do."

Only one person in history did not leave behind any unfinished business. His name is Jesus Christ. On the night before His crucifixion, as He prayed with His disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus said to His Father, "I have finished the work which you have given me to do" (John 17:4).

Consider all that surrounds those words. When Jesus ascended to heaven there were still many hurting people left in the world. When Jesus left, there were many sick people here on earth unhealed. Many people still walked in darkness, searching for the light of His presence. The ones closest to Him, the disciples, still did not understand most of what He taught.

The "Way" still contained just a small group of believers in a remote part of the world. Few people had even heard the name of Jesus. It did not all seem finished. To human understanding, it all seemed incomplete! Jesus understood His calling - He could truly say, "I have finished the work You gave me." I once heard someone say that God's will is never finished and God's will is always finished. It's never complete because after we've

done all we can do, there is still much more that needs to be done.

That is true whether your life is 10 years long or 100 years long. God's will is always done because God gives each of us a small part of the big job. We do our small part and then someone else comes along and continues where we left off. This is a tough concept to understand. The key is to understand God's calling on your life and to do all you can. We must always remember that it doesn't depend solely on us!

We can't always tell the beginning from the end. When Jesus left, it looked like His movement might die out. Two thousand years later, over two-billion people call Him Lord. We must strive to be like Jesus. Find out what God wants you to do and then go and do it. As I leave the First Baptist Church of Camden and Carroll County, I know the work of the Lord will continue. I've done my small part, now it's someone else's turn to continue His work.

Chad Hoesman is the former pastor at Camden First Baptist Church.

Pray for our nation to seek God

"I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home." Mark 2:11 Pd. Adv.