HOW TO FINISH WELL – Part 4 of 6

How do we finish well?... First, those who finish well have a Christ-centered life… Second, those who finish well have a focused life… Third, those who end well have disciplined lives.

A fourth characteristic of those who finish well is that they have a teachable spirit through life. “Teachable” means that they maintain a humble posture and are open to receiving midcourse corrections. Those who finish well never stop doing this. They are life-long learners. They learn from reading, from watching and listening to others, and from life itself. This keeps them from plateauing. Paul was like this. At the very end of his life, in the closing request of his last letter, he says to Timothy, “When you come… also bring my books.” (2 Timothy 4:13 NLT). He was still learning and teachable, right to the very end.

-- Adapted from Donald W. Sweeting and George Sweeting in “How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half”

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THE DEVOUT STUDENT

“There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another -- showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.”  (2 Timothy 3:15-17 The Message)

The devout student is the best of all students.  There are too many who are devout, but not students. They will not accept the discipline of study and of learning, and they even look with suspicion upon the further knowledge which study brings to [others]. There are equally too many who are students, but not devout.  They are interested too much in intellectual knowledge, and too little in the life of prayer and in the life of service of their fellow [human beings].  [One] would do well to aim at being not only a student, and not only devout, but at being a devout student. 

-- William Barclay (1907-1978) in “The Revelation of John” (Vol. II)

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WILLING TO LEARN

The One who knew said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Happy, that is, are those people who know that their spiritual power is small, that their creeds are imperfect, that their instruction concerning God and man is incomplete. Happy are those who know that they do not know all of the truth. For only those who admit their spiritual poverty are willing to learn.  

-- Agnes Sanford in “The Healing Light”

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LEARNING FROM OUR FAILURES

Our failures, placed in God’s hands, often lead to our greatest successes. Our most painful experiences become our defining moments by the grace of God, provided that we learn from them. This is what Paul was teaching in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”

The challenge for many of us is that we spend so much time blaming others for our failures and expressing disappointment in God that we miss an opportunity to be teachable and to learn from the experience. God takes the dark moments, the failures and rejections in our lives, and uses them for our good -- if we allow it, if we humble ourselves and consider whether there is anything in us that needs to be changed…

I’ve known people who reached such a point when the world was crashing down around them, and instead of asking what they might need to change, they justified themselves and pointed a finger at everyone else. But there is great power in honestly assessing how we ended up where we are and inviting God to teach us, shape us, and forgive us. In this teachable position, humbled before God, we are often surprised by what happens next. 

-- Adam Hamilton in “Revival”

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REMAINING TEACHABLE

“Respect and obey the LORD! This is the beginning of knowledge. Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice.”  (Proverbs 1:7 CEV)

“A green twig is hard to break,” many of us have heard as we were growing up. When you remain flexible and pliable in the hands of God, He can mold and shape you into your ultimate best. And if you continue to remain teachable, you will never grow old. Just as you did when you were a child, you will stand in wonder and awe at the mysteries of God’s great universe.

-- from “God’s Little Book of Proverbs: Timeless Wisdom for Daily Living”

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