For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6, NASB)
Golf. It doesn’t always get better. Our best years on the golf course may already be behind us. I tell my golf partners who have just missed a short putt to lose the hole, “Two years from now, it will not make a difference whether you made that putt or not.”
The best years of your life may come as you forget what lies behind and press forward to what lies ahead. For all who have trusted their future to Jesus, we must remember that He started this good work in you, and only He will perfect it, as our verse above explains: For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
No single chapter in any book of life really tells the whole story. Many of you have completed a lot of chapters and are getting ready for the final ones, in which He will do His perfect work.
Many of us regret past chapters with poor choices. Our mistakes don’t have to define us, and our temporary victories don’t guarantee that all will be well in the end. For those who have trusted Jesus, we know the final chapter never ends and gets better each day after our Homecoming.
Let me tell you a real story. Recently, I ran into a young man in a restaurant who became a good friend years ago when he attended a local Links Fellowship. He was going through a rough time in his life then, so we embraced him and prayed with him.
He was trying to make good choices but lived in regret over all the poor ones. Then he made more poor choices. We still loved him, but he was living in the wilderness. Then God got his attention—along with a new wife and family. And new friends. And a church that welcomed him. And a mom and dad who never gave up hope.
This young man responded and started a fellowship group that now meets at Whataburger at 5 a.m. every week. This is the best time for people coming off shift work and those heading to early jobs. They have a strong group each week, coming together as they forget the past and move forward to what lies ahead.
Bob Goff summarized this well when he said, “Grace looks both ways. Into the past and into the future. Now, yesterday is no longer an enemy, and the unknown future is our new best friend.”
Now, the rest of the story. He told me he had read on ChatGPT that you can read the entire Bible in one year if you dedicate 18–22 minutes a day. He pulled out his phone and showed me the app for reading the Bible in one year. He was on reading 265 of 365.
He said, “It was as if God was speaking to me a few months ago on my 41st birthday. The reading that day was from Numbers 14 about Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years because of their unbelief and poor choices.
“That has been me for the past 40 years. I am now ready to go into the Promised Land. It also said in Deuteronomy 2:7 that God had been with them all the time they wandered, and they had lacked nothing. I now know He has also been with me these past 40 years. He never gave up on me.”
I cried. He smiled and said, “And after the next 40 years, I will be your age and ready to go Home.”
Prayer – Jesus, we dedicate the manuscript of our lives to the glory of Almighty God.