Until The Final Whistle

“Oh no, Christopher, not another football related blog entry!”

Oh come on, it’s not all about football. It’s just that there are some handy lessons from football that apply to other areas of life. For example, an adage in the game is to keep on playing until the final whistle. It doesn’t take that long for a goal to be scored and that goal can be the difference between points won and points lost, so it’s critical to remain alert throughout the game until that final whistle is blown.

That is not just a useful maxim for within the match, it’s a critical one to apply over a season. Many the story has been told of a team that enjoyed a good run of results that placed them in a promising position of progress only to be derailed just as the prize was in sight. All the more reason to keep focused throughout the season so as to finish well.

We can look at someone and dismiss them because they don’t fit a profile of what a good person is. Yet as long as they are still alive they can turn around and surprise you with how they end up as well as indeed where they end up. Being people of grace and hope doesn’t render us blind to reality, it makes us all the more important to demonstrate godly love and then be ever looking to God to make the difference on the inside.

So no great start is a surefire banker for the great finish. Thankfully, likewise, no horrendous start discounts you from the incredible love of God and turn it all around as long as that final whistle.

It’s to be mindful of experiences and live to the last breath conveying the good news. It would be a big shame to have fought so well in the fight for such a long time but miss out because you were distracted from what really matters.

For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden