Exhortation Station

As we look forward to the culmination of the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot/Pentecost) tomorrow, I had some encouragements I wanted to share.  Let’s dive into a couple verses.

Philippians 1:6 — “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Messiah Yahshua.”

1 Peter 5:8-10 — “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. ¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

Notice the statements about Yah perfecting us.  As children of God, we are called to a high standard.  The encouraging thing is that this high calling is not unmet with Yahweh’s abundant help.  Yahweh Himself perfects and finishes us.  Hallelujah!  

Yahweh is a finisher.  When He does something, He doesn’t stop halfway — He works till the job is done.  Just go outside and take a glimpse of His marvelous creation and you’ll know what I mean.  Yahweh wants us to be finishers as well.  By “finish,” I don’t just mean crossing the finish line — I mean the whole process of finishing.  Listen to these words from David to Solomon.

1 Chronicles 28:20 — “Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for YHWH Elohim, my Elohim, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of YHWH is finished.”

Notice how David exhorts Solomon to “do the work” of finishing the temple.  At the same time, David encourages him that Yahweh will be with Solomon to see the project to completion.  Another passage relating to finishing is found in Luke 14.

Luke 14:27-30 — “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.'”

Here Yahshua exhorts his disciples to count the cost of following Him.  He warns them against hastily “jumping in” if they are not willing to accept the cost.

Another passage I find interesting is found in Revelation chapter 3.

Revelation 3:1,2 — “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.”‘”

The importance of finishing may seem self-evident.  I challenge you, however, to sincerely ponder if there are things in your life — opportunities, relationships, etc. — that you may have neglected, perhaps without even realizing it.  I share these things as a reminder to us, as it can be very easy to leave things unfinished.

There is a practical, everyday-life side to this whole thing that is helpful to realize:  Starting things often comes with a sense of vision and excitement, whereas the finishing process can be long, arduous, and sometimes a bit boring.  It’s really not that hard to jump into something when we’ve just experienced a motivational high, so to speak. Sometimes, we can get discouraged when we get into a project and then find it’s not as exciting as we thought.  We may be tempted to give up, but just remember these feelings are normal.  Nearly every pursuit that has value also has moments of difficulty and frustration.  If we persevere through these difficulties, the rewards of our labor will be sweet.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to start something when we feel particularly motivated.  A wise man, though, is willing to accept the fact that the initial feelings of excitement won’t last forever.  Not only this, but a wise man learns to take joy in the finishing process.  Of course, sometimes we may tinker with a hobby for a while and later lose interest in it, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  There is something of value, however, in having the persistence to stick with a project even when it’s not fun.  It helps build confidence and patience, and it makes it that much more rewarding when the finished product finally emerges.

Proverbs 12:27 says, “A lazy man does not roast his prey, but the precious possession of a man is diligence.” (NASB)  The KJV translation reads, “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.”  

Notice the verse above doesn’t say the lazy man does not hunt is prey, but only that he does not roast it.  In other words, the lazy man goes halfway but does not finish the job.

As we near the conclusion of this post, let’s take a moment to tie in these ideas with Shavuot.  So far this year, we’ve made it through the season of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.  Praise the Father for Yahshua, our spotless Passover lamb and the first fruits of those resurrected from the dead!  In my last post I mentioned the following passage:

1 Corinthians 5:7,8 — “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Among other things, Unleavened Bread reminds us to clean out old habits from the past year and start fresh in sincerity and truth.

As we know, the fifty-day count toward Shavuot begins with First Fruits.  Recall that the offering on First Fruits includes a grain offering (Lev 23:13).  Since First Fruits occurs during Unleavened Bread, this grain offering is unleavened.  On Shavuot, another grain offering in the form of two loaves of bread is presented to Yahweh.  This time, the loaves are to be baked with leaven (Lev 23:16,17).  It seems, then, that perhaps the spring feast cycle contains a picture of cleaning out old leaven from our hearts, starting fresh, and then being filled with new, pure “leaven of the Kingdom” in the weeks leading to Shavuot.  

As we think about being filled with Yah’s ways, let’s be prayerful as to any works we may have put on the back-burner which are deserving of completion.  Maybe there’s something Yahweh’s been revealing to you in the Scriptures that you’ve forgotten about in the daily busyness.  Maybe there’s someone Yah brought across you’re path whom you haven’t contacted in a while.  Whatever it may be, let us persevere to finish the job.  The finish line may not come quickly; it may take time.  Slow, steady, persistent movement forward is the key. 

Praise Yahweh that He doesn’t go halfway with His plans toward us.  He is abundantly able and willing to finish us.  Let us be teachable and humble so that we can present to Him hearts filled with the joy of His ways.  Chag Sameach!  (Happy Feast)

2 Corinthians 13:11 – “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

(Bible passages NASB unless otherwise noted; Hebrew transl. added.)