The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark 1:15

You’ve heard, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish that matters.” About two weeks ago, it dawned on me that this saying (one of my personal favorites) needed further understanding and discussion. As a matter of fact, as comforting as it had always sounded, it suddenly took on a sense of concern.

My wife and I were in Vermont this past weekend. Lo and behold she showed me this quote by Carl Bard she found, thumbing through a Destination Vermont magazine. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

If we quickly shift gears, we can go deeper for insight, and visit the scene of the Cross at Calvary. Jesus said, “It is finished.” His job on Earth was over. He started sinless and died sinless; the only One ever to do so in perfect fashion and the only One qualified to die as the pure sacrifice for the sins of others. His miraculous resurrection from the grave still serves as the cornerstone of our Christian faith.

Let’s consider the two criminal men, also being crucified, on either side of Jesus. One started wrong and ended wrong. He mocked Christ, and chose an eternal destiny apart from Him. The second man, in the last moments of his life, repented or thought anew and accepted Christ as God. He started wrong and was ending wrong until he started from then to make a brand new ending – forgiven, saved and going to be with Christ in paradise.

We now understand more fully why John the Baptist, Apostles Paul and Peter and Jesus Himself all called for people to repent of their sinful earthly lifestyle (stop and start thinking and acting in a new Heavenly Kingdom way).

In light of their consistent message, God’s grace and mercy shines brightly. Though we cannot go back and redo our past, we can repent and be forgiven of our sinful nature, be born from above right now, and choose a brand new ending.

Family and friends, in the grandest scheme, it’s not at all about how we start or finish, or how long it takes. It’s whether we repent of our sinful nature and have Christ as our Lord and Savior that weighs eternally. When His purpose for us to personally expand His Kingdom on Earth truly begins, it’s only a matter of time when we too can boldly proclaim—It is finished!

John 3:16; 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 2:20

Final comment from a special friend:

“How you start does matter. You cannot possibly finish right if, somewhere along the way, you did not start right. The best part of God’s merciful plan for us is the “fresh start”. Your initial start might have been a rough one, but in order to finish strong, there must be a “fresh start” along the way.”