It’s not how one starts, it’s how one finishes  that counts.

Just ask ancient Israel, of whom Hebrews 8:9 testifies, “for they did not CONTINUE in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord.”

GREAT start.  Leaving behind the bitter, brutal bonds of slavery in Egypt.  Being rescued by literally watching the Red Sea part before them and passing through it as though on dry land (Hebrews 11:29; the entire account is found in Exodus 14-15).  Literally being “fed and led” DIRECTLY BY GOD HIMSELF via manna from heaven, a water-providing rock to help wash it down, and a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.

Great finish?  NOT SO MUCH.  As in tens of thousands being struck dead by God at one time (1 Corinthians 10:8).  As in FORTY YEARS of wayward wandering in the wilderness.

Just ask Demas, who was among one of the Apostle Paul’s closest “fellow workers” and friends and confidants, in his inner circle (Philemon 1:24 and Colossians 4:14) but ended up desiring the world and deserting Paul (2 Timothy 4:10) (or as I often call that too-common phenomenon, “flirting then deserting”).  From “hero” to “zero”… great start, bad finish (with an end result to match).

That’s why Colossians 1:22-23 says in such simple, straightforward, can’t-miss-it fashion, “yet He has now reconciled you in His [i.e., Jesus’s] fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach – if indeed you CONTINUE in the faith firmly established and steadfast…”

And the Lord Jesus Himself was every bit as blunt about the matter in Matthew 24:13 – “But he who endures [i.e., CONTINUES] to the end shall be saved.”

So don’t worry about or get emotionally “bogged down” by your past, by things you may have done at a previous point in time; rather, focus on the present and future.

Because… it’s not how you START your walk with Christ, it’s how you FINISH!
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