As another day ends, we should be thankful for the blessing of life.  We serve a good God Who has blessed us in a variety of ways, but life itself is sometimes taken for granted.  We should take care to appreciate every new day and be thankful, when it is over, that God has taken care of us.

As much as we appreciate life, there are daily reminders all around us that it is only temporary.  The Hebrews writer put it best when he wrote, “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  We know that there are two things we cannot escape—death and the day of judgment when we give an account of our lives to God.  With this in mind, our primary goal in living should be to die right.  Paul is a good example of this.

2 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)
7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Are you fighting the good fight?  You have to obey the gospel to do that (Romans 1:16).  If you have not obeyed the gospel, you are fighting for the wrong side.  You must repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Christ (Acts 2:38), or else you will remain in a losing battle.

Those of us who have obeyed the gospel are children of God, but that is not enough.  Some children of God will die the wrong way.  To die right, we must finish the race that we began when we obeyed the gospel.  How are you running the race of Christianity?  Are you running as if you want to obtain the crown?  That is the way that Paul exhorted us to run (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).  We must lay aside every weight (Hebrews 12:1) and give our all to Christ.

Finishing the race of Christianity is just as important, maybe even more so, than beginning it.  Over the years there have been many who have quit the race without reaching the goal.  At the end of his life, Paul had no worries about meeting God in judgment because he knew he had finished the course.  He knew that he had kept the faith.

To keep the faith is to continue to live by the gospel of Christ, always abiding in His doctrine.  The Bible tells us that those who first obeyed the gospel continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doc-trine, which, of course, was the doctrine of Christ (Acts 2:42).  We must do the same if we want to die right (2 John 1:9).  Paul never quit the faith.  He had plenty of opportunities to do so, but he never did.

He could have quit the faith when he was beaten with rods at Philippi and thrown into an inner dungeon, but he refused to do so.  Instead, he and Silas chose to keep the faith, singing praises to God (Acts 16:25).

Paul could have quit the faith when he was stoned at Lystra and left for dead, but he would not.  Instead, he chose to keep on running, going to the very next town (Derbe), and preaching the gospel to those who were lost (Acts 14:19-21).  Paul died right because, under the worst circumstances, he continued to fight the good fight, run the right race, and keep the faith.

Life always presents us with choices.  Will we make the right decisions, choosing to side with God no matter what the price maybe?  I hope that we will.  I pray that we will because it is the only way to die right.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.