1 Kings 10-11, Luke 21:20-38 • Key Verse: 1 Kings 11:9

Leith Anderson tells of a man named Kenneth Kruse, who “served the Lord faithfully in Africa for 25 years before returning to England, where he worked with the Scripture Gift Mission. He retired at age 65, and three years after the death of his wife, he returned to Africa at age 70 to resume missionary work there.

“Prior to leaving for the field, his son wrote him a letter in which he quoted Psalm 146:5: ‘Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help.’

“Kenneth responded with a letter containing a quote that should become an all-time Christian classic. He wrote, ‘I think I would rather be a Jacob than a Solomon. Solomon started so promisingly but finished up so disastrously; but Jacob started so disastrously and finished up so promisingly.’”

Solomon did not finish well. He began with such great promise, rewarded by God with wisdom, riches and honor. It was his privilege to build the magnificent temple and to have his prayer answered for God’s glory to dwell there. The blessings upon him and the nation were many, but at the end of his life, “his heart had turned away from the Lord” (11:9).

Finishing well is not automatic but is mandatory. As God gives you years on earth, give your years to God with a determination that you will finish well.

_Commit yourself to finishing well. Perhaps a visual reminder, such as a card with the words “Finish Well” posted on the refrigerator or bathroom mirror, or used as a bookmark in your Bible, will challenge you to keep this commitment._

Woodrow Kroll & Tony Beckett
www.backtothebible.in