The command came; “On your mark, get set,” the pistol cracked and the race was on. One athlete sprang to the lead, and when the race was over he had broke the state record. Only a few other runners even finished the race. Many dropped out when they saw they could not win. As the field crew was bringing out the hurdles for the next race, one of the judges yelled, “Get those hurdles out of the way. This race is not over. Look!” And around the turn came a runner, panting, and staggering. The crowd stood in silent disbelief as he made his way over the last hundred yards, and literally fell across the finish line, grinding his face into the cinder track. One of the judges ran to the boy, turned him over on his back, took his handkerchief and wiped the blood from his face. “Son, why didn’t you drop out? What are you doing in the mile race anyway?” Between gasps, the boy explained that his school had a good miler who had gotten sick just a few days before. The coach had promised to have a man in every event, and so he had asked the boy to run the mile. “Well son, why didn’t you just drop out when you saw that you had lost?” The boy answered, “Sir, they didn’t send me here to quit. They didn’t send me here to win. They sent me here to run this mile, and I ran it!”
What does it mean to be faithful to the finish? Bill Hybels in one of his books defined faithfulness this way: “Faithfulness means you stick to a commitment after the shine wears off... Faithfulness means you keep saying no a thousand times if you must to the temptation of cutting a corner and taking the easy way out... Faithfulness means you refuse to jump ship even when the waves of adversity are splashing over the decks of your marriage, your relationship with your children or your relationship with others… Faithfulness means you stay true to your relationship with Jesus no matter what it costs you.” In a practical way it’s the quality of being true, trustworthy and reliable in our dealings with others. It’s the characteristic of doing what we know we should even when it’s not easy.
This type of attitude isn’t nearly as common as you might think. Solomon spoke about that in Proverbs 20:6 when he wrote, “Many a man proclaims his loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?” And so the question that we most need to answer isn’t what is faithfulness but rather why can faithfulness be such a challenge? Part of the problem is that we live in a society where faithfulness isn’t in style. People aren’t accustomed to someone being what they should be and living the way they should. Many people today aren’t committed too much of anything… to God, to their church, to their friends, or to their family.
For most of us faithfulness is a challenge because we all have to deal with the temptation to be unfaithful.... to not keep our promises…. to not honor commitments made. Now this isn't what we intend at the start but even though we mean well many times we don’t always do well. However, each time we are faithful, it helps us move closer to the overall faithfulness Abba Father has demonstrated.
"But you promised!" How many times have parents heard those words coming from the mouths of our kids? My memory of the promises I made to my kids often wasn't as good as theirs was. All children crave promise keeping from the significant adults in their lives. Interestingly that craving doesn't disappear with age. It just gets numbed because our lives have known the disappointment of broken promises and unfulfilled commitments. Our rescue is in discovering that our Abba doesn't forget His promises. He keeps His Word. When He makes a promise, He will deliver.
Faithfulness, one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), is a biblical word describing those who keep their promises. It does not mean "full of faith," but rather "worthy of faith." Faithfulness says, "I will keep my word. I will not fail you. I won't quit on you." This God empowered faithfulness is the glue that keeps our actions adhering to our promises as we experience more deeply His faithfulness.
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