If life is a race with each year representing a lap around the track, then we have just come around the final turn and are on the home stretch for 2012.  
  
A few months ago our son Paul David, along with Noah Erickson and Michael Patton, competed in a triathlon event that involved swimming, cycling, and running.  It was a long and physically demanding race.  However, I noticed that as the finish line came into view, each runner picked up the pace and finished strong.  Some actually sprinted across the finish line! 
  
It’s one thing to start.  It’s another thing to endure.  But what about the virtues of finishing well?  
  
As we near the end of 2012, consider how you can finish the year strong.  Think of your family relationships.  How can you pick up the pace there?  What about your professional life?  Maybe just that extra push of effort is all that is needed to put you over the top! What about your health?  Why wait until the New Year to make the resolution to exercise, lose weight, eat right, and drop the bad habits?  Start now.  Finish strong.  And what kind of year has 2012 been for you spiritually?  No matter what the answer may be, I encourage you to kick it into gear now and finish the year well.  
  
A few Sunday’s ago our treasurer, Ed Erickson, gave a Generosity 212 (G212) update.  G212 is an initiative we launched in June of 2011 to address a serious budget shortfall.  The idea behind G212 is that at 211 degrees water is hot, but at 212 degrees water boils. Boiling water creates steam, and steam can power a locomotive.  What a difference one degree makes!
 
In the G212 initiative we were all encouraged to consider stepping up our giving by one degree.  The result was amazing! That little extra push solved the budget shortfall and enabled the church to fulfill all of its financial obligations.  Thank you RLA church family for your generosity!
 
Now, let’s finish the year strong!  If you have any questions concerning where you stand on your giving, please contact our bookkeeper, Vicky Tyson.  She will be happy to assist you.  You may contact her by calling the
church at 239-495-0400, or by email at, [email protected].    
  
We have run a good race. We’ve rounded the final turn.  The finish line is now in view.  Let’s make 2012 a year to be
remembered as together we finish strong. 
 
Pastor Todd Weston

2 Kings 10:17 records that during the reign of Solomon he made 300 shields of gold and had them stored in one of the king’s houses in Jerusalem.  Each shield contained three pounds of pure gold.  Those were some expensive shields!

After the death of Solomon, the king of Egypt came against Jerusalem and stole the shields of gold (1 Kings 14:26).  So what did Rehoboam, the son of Solomon and reigning king of Judah, do?  Did he attempt to recapture that which the enemy had stolen?  No.  Instead, he replaced the lost shields of gold with shields of brass (1 Kings 14:27).

Rehoboam is the king who settled for less.  He reasoned:  Why fight for gold when you can settle for brass?  That’s kind of like saying: Why strive for excellence when you can settle for mediocrity?

It’s sad to see people settle for less in any realm of life.  But when we settle for less in our spiritual lives, it’s not just sad, it’s tragic.  For example, consider the following statements from the Bible –

·         “When you pray…” (Matthew 6:5)
·         “If you sin…” (1 John 2:1)

Those combined statements are like a spiritual shield of gold.  They imply that prayer is a constant in the Christian life, and sin is not.  But then the enemy comes along and steals that shield of gold and replaces it with a shield of brass that says –

·         “If you pray…”
·         “When you sin…”

Shield of brass Christianity settles for less.  It assumes that sin is the usual, and prayer the unusual.

There is no biblical record that Rehoboam ever recaptured the lost shields.  But then, there is no record that he even tried.

Don’t be a Rehoboam!  Despise mediocrity.  Refuse to settle for less.  Set your standards high, stake your spiritual claim, and compromise for no one.  It’s the only way to live.

Pastor Todd Weston    

I remember trying out for the track team as an 8th grader.  Out of a student body numbering around one thousand, I think about 999 kids were out that day to make the team.  I was one of them.  It was a lot of fun and everything was going great until we started running.  We ran, and we ran, and we ran, and we ran.  We must have run about 379 miles!

It was the fulfillment of what David said in Psalm 91:7, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand.”  That’s how it was.  As I ran, poor Jr. High students were dropping like flies all around me.  They were laying all over the track holding their sides, gasping for oxygen.  But David was wrong when he went on to say,”But it shall not come near you,” because it did!  Eventually, I joined the ranks of the quitters and fell down crying out for air.

Not enough is said today about endurance.  How easy it is to start.  How hard it is to finish.  Starting is obviously very important.  Nothing will ever get done unless we start.  But what really counts is whether or not you finish.

The Bible compares the Christian life to a race.  Many start; few finish.  Don’t be a quitter in the greater race of all.  Don’t get discouraged by the obstacles, or weary in the midst of it all.  Lift up your eyes to the eternal prize and keep on running.  In the Christian life, the prize goes not to those who finish first.  It goes to those who finish!

Pastor Todd Weston  

Kissing and clinging?  That’s what the Bible says!  “Orpah kissed her mother in law, but Ruth clung to her” (Ruth 1:14).  Clinging.  It’s the same word used in Genesis 2:24 in the law of marriage, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.”  The word is found again in Joshua 23:8 where the people were commanded to cleave to the Lord their God.  And it occurs again in Psalm 63:8 where David cried out to God, “My soul follows close behind You.”

The Hebrew word (dabaq) means to cling to, hold fast, follow close behind, be joined to, to catch by pursuit, or to stick to.

Orpah and Ruth are examples of two types of Christians. 

·        kissers and clingers
·        professors and possessors
·        hearers and doers
·        starters and finishers

Ruth and Orpah both made a profession of sorts.  They said to Naomi, “Surely we will return with you to your people” (Ruth 1:10).  But when the critical moment of truth arrived, Orpah’s profession failed.  She went back on her promise.  She kissed her mother-in-law and went back to her old life (Ruth 1:14-15).  But Ruth clung to Naomi.  She possessed genuine faith that proved itself by works.

Read Ruth 1:14 again and ask yourself –

·        Am I a kisser or a clinger?
·        Am I a flirt or a faithful follower?

The example of Ruth tells us to lay hold of Jesus and never let go.  For that is what Jesus has done for us.  He is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Pastor Todd Weston