When I newly gave my life to Christ, the love of God in me made me burn with zeal to please the One who paid the supreme price to save my soul. However, some people I met in the faith mocked my zeal and said to each other, “Leave him alone; he will soon be tried and slow down.” I thank God that He has not allowed their prediction come true in my life. For this reason, I can stand to testify, as Paul did in 2 Timothy 1:12, that God is indeed able to keep what is entrusted to Him to the very end.

Paul was a man whose life proved that faith in the sustaining grace of God is not a waste. God kept him going in the Christian race and helped him to finish well and strong. At the end of his life, Paul was able to say in 2nd Timothy 4:6-8:
“For I am 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: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
How was Paul able to finish his Christian race well in spite of the many obstacles he faced? The answer lies in John 17:1-12. Before our Lord Jesus Christ left the earth, He devoted a substantial amount of time to pray that the faith of those who genuinely belong to Him should endure. As part of His prayer, He also said in John 12:17:
“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”
This is something for us to think about. Judas was given equal opportunity not to end his race the way he did, but he chose to be a son of perdition. We learn from him that making it to the very end is a matter of the choices we make every day. Those who will cross the finish line are those who give heed to the Lord’s warning in Luke 12:15, which says:
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consiseth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
Beloved, I assure you that you can make it to the very end. Hold the fort and don’t compromise your faith. Keep on the firing line, and you will make it in Jesus’ Name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.