Articles
Make Me Know My End
Make Me Know My End
Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am (Psalms 39:4)
Even though we may never literally make this petition to the Lord, I have to believe that because of the troubles, trials and sorrows that surround us in this life, in our heart we sometimes wonder when they will cease to be. Certainly, we need to be seriously considering what is going to happen to us when we take that last feeble step on planet earth. And our sojourn on this earth is a fleeting one. As we travel down life’s pathway, we are only on a brief stopover on our journey to one day meet the Lord in judgment. I sometimes wonder if we really realize how quickly our lives can change. O, we talk about it but somehow, we just don’t seem to think about it as we should for, you see, so often we live in a world of “I intend”.
The life we now live is indeed a fragile one (1 Samuel 20:23. Job 7:6-7; Job 8:9, Psalms 90:9-12’ James 4:14). No one knows whether the time between their birth and their death will be a short time or whether it will stretch out for many years. Truth is that regardless of one’s age in terms of years lived, few or many, the brittle thread of life can be ended in the matter of just one heartbeat. Since none of us know the day or hour when time on this earth will be no more for us, I want to urge all to live each day pursuing those things that will make the end of our life far better than its beginning.
Follow the instructions of Paul to Timothy found in 1 Timothy 6:11-12: “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” By doing so, I have no doubt the end of our life will be better than the beginning. Each day follow the urging of Peter found in 2 Peter 1:4-11 to be diligent in adding moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love to our faith. Following this advice will most certainly go a long way toward making the end of our life better than the beginning.
As Christians, we live by the Spirit and we walk by the Spirit (Romans 8:11, Romans 8:4, Galatians 5:16). Each day of our life we need to diligently pursue the fruit of the Spirit as revealed in Galatians 5:22-23: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” With the fruit of the Spirit reigning in our heart, I have no doubt about the end of life being better than the beginning. How about you?
I leave you with this thought as it relates to the end being better than the beginning: “Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps lit” (Luke 12:35)
Charles Hicks, Gallatin Tennessee
