Follow Through

Endure, persevere, stand firm... these words permeate Scripture.

Jesus tells the disciples to endure the tribulation to come (in AD 70, and in 2000-something) (Matt 24:13). Paul tells timothy to persevere in life and doctrine (1 Tim 4:16), that perseverance builds character, which leads to hope, which does not disappoint us (Rom 5:5). The author of Hebrews tells us that we must persevere to receive the promise reserved for the faithful (Heb 10:36); and famously Hebrews 11 is chock full of examples of endurance for the sake of God and Christ.

Granted, all of these examples concern spiritual matters, in fact, they concern eternity! But one has to wonder, (or at least I do), where else endurance matters. The answer; I have found is, everywhere .

In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus says, "...'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." (Matt 25:21). It has been my experience that few people rise to the responsibility given to them. In other words, if someone is not faithful with simple tasks at work, making them a manager will not instantly inject them with responsibility. Perhaps this is something of what Jesus is getting at.

As Christians it is imperative that we are known as people of our word. When we say we will be somewhere, or that we will do something, are we? do we? As leaders, have we plotted a course, or cast a vision, for it only to be lost in a sea of sticky notes and emails? Have we fallen prey to the "Tyranny of the Urgent" (thank you Bill Hybels). How often has our phone tag trail grown cold. How often have started something and not brought it to completion?

Col 3:17 exhorts us to exert ourselves in all things as though we were doing it unto the Lord. This counts for everything. It becomes a matter of character. Are we known for follow through? We'd better be, for we wear the name of Christ and when we show ourselves as being unreliable, we bring His name down with ours.