Unfinished Business

My senior year of college at Milligan, I had this ridiculously boring history class that I had to take to graduate. It was so boring that there were only 3 other students there, and 2 of them rarely showed up.

Everyday was a discussion about the same topics, and we barely covered any ground. That didn't stop the well-meaning professor from giving us a final, however. I really didn't care to prepare, it was my last final, and I just wanted to graduate to move on with my life. Because of that, I rushed through the test, barely responded to the essay questions, and in fact, I think I finished the last essay by saying, "I really do know more than this, you're just going to have to take my word for it."

Lame, right? I was on track to getting a great grade in the class, but the professor rewarded my "hard work" by dropping me a whole letter grade. Just 20 more minutes of effort and I could have finished well. Looking back, I probably would have done it right if I could do it over again because it wasn't worth the consequences.

My wife and I are reading a similar story of unfinished business. In Joshua, we're reading what many consider to be the brutal, ungodly conquest of Joshua to take over the Promised Land of Canaan. Question what you will about the grace and mercy of God in this story, God makes it pretty clear that the whole land is there and everyone else needs removed. Sounds harsh, right?

I don't know why God told them to do this, but I do know that God says that when they get to the land, they should not worship the foreigner's gods. This would only lead to more heartache and pain later.

So let's fast forward. Joshua and company don't finish their mission, they celebrate their work prematurely, the Canaanites remain a thorn in their side for the next few hundred years, and in the end, the Israelites worship other gods and eventually end up in exile because of their sinfulness. That's a long stretch from being the light of the world.

It makes me so sad because I know how their story ends. They only needed to push a little harder and obey God until the work was done. As a result,Their fate was far worse than a lower GPA.

We could fast forward again and realize that none of that mattered because Jesus came and set it all straight. While it is true that we now live under grace, I think there's still something to be learned from Joshua's story.

Too often God calls us to do something and we don't see it through til the end. We give up too soon. Maybe we have something to do at work and we don't finish it with excellence because it's "good enough." If you're a student maybe you just turn a project in early or because you want to be done with it. If you're a parent, you give up trying to teach your kids something because it just isn't worth the effort. If you are a follower of Jesus seeking spiritual maturity, maybe you've given up a spiritual discipline because it was too hard.

The bottom line is this: FINISH WELL! I'm not saying you become a workaholic or a perfectionist, but our God deserves our best. It's not enough to quit early or to be satisfied with mediocrity. Save yourself some pain, enhance your witness, and whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as for the Lord and not for men (Col 3:23).

Just like the work of Joshua, the work that God has for us is more important than a grade. I say enough with the unfinished business. Don't give God your leftovers.