“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” - 2 Timothy 4:6-7
I love good Southern Gospel Music, don't you? I love strong lyrics, close harmony, great accompaniment and talented singers. Music production is better than it has ever been. Great songs are being written and recorded. I must confess that I still love to hear convention songs. Whether new or old, convention songs are near and dear to my heart. I love to hear a good quartet sing a convention song!
Back in the late 1970's and early 1980's, the Kingsmen Quartet had a tenor named Ernie Phillips. Ernie was originally from Cool Ridge, WV, which is about 15 minutes away from the office where I work. Ernie was referred to as “the little giant.” What a tenor he was! Wow! He could really sing! Often Ernie would end a song with a high note.
I want to end every day on a high note. Sometimes the start of my day is rather difficult. I am not a morning person. It is unbelievably challenging for me to get focused when I get up each morning. I tend to do better by mid-morning. Yet I expect my day to get better as the hours pass. I tend to get more focused and productive. By the time I go to bed in the evening, I want the day to end well. I want to look back and be satisfied that it has been a day that was well-lived. I want to end each day on a high note.
I also want to end the year on a high note. As we approach the end of 2023, it would be great to finish strong. Perhaps 2023 was a tough year for you. Maybe you experienced great loss and personal pain in the past year. Yet, by God's grace, the ending of this year can be a high point for you. Perhaps this year has been marked by personal failure. Yet the final days could a rallying point. It could be that a year of defeat will finish with the greatest of victories.
Even if 2023 was a great year for you, it may be that these final days and hours could be the pinnacle of it all. Sometimes the greatest joys await at the end of the year and punctuate the holidays with deeper joy. If 2023 was a great year, we don't want it to end on a sour note, do we?
We tend to focus on the new year with excitement and optimism. We think that January first is the best time to start a diet, work out at the gym or begin reading through the Bible. While there is nothing wrong with that approach, what is keeping us from doing those things today? One way to end the year on a high note is to do the things today that you should be doing. We tend to overestimate the first day of the year and underestimate today.
I want to finish the year on a high note. But also, I want to finish my life on a high note. I don't know how close I am to the finish line. It may be that I am living in my final days. You may be, too. Wouldn't it be great to cross the finish line with excitement and enthusiasm? Don't you want to finish strong? Don't you want to finish well?
Paul wrote about his finish: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Notice three things that Paul mentions about his own life.
A GOOD FIGHT
A GREAT FAITH
A GLORIOUS FINISH
I want to finish this day, this year and my life on a high note. That means that I need to fight a good fight, experience a great faith and enjoy a glorious finish every day. One day it will be my last day. Like Paul, I want to cross the finish line victoriously.
I want to end on a high note, what about you?
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