A Good Beginning Deserves a Strong Finish

P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

A Good Beginning Deserves a Strong Finish
Friends, the 2001 Peachtree-a 10 kilometre race in Atlanta, Georgia-was won by John Korir of Kenya. His winning time of 28 minutes 19 seconds was not a new record for the annual event. But the circumstances of his winning was the most extraordinary by far in the history of the race. It is also something of a parable about staying with a task until it had been completed. Here’s the story… Alene Emere of Ethiopia won the 2000 Peachtree and was certainly of the favourites this time. He was leading, in fact, with only 400 metres to go, when he got confused by a crosswalk and bridge where photographers crowd together to take photos of runners nearing the tape. Emere mistook the group with camera for the finish line, raised his arms in triumph, and came to a dead stop! He only realized his error when someone screamed, “No, no, no. Go!” he tried to regain his position at the head of the line of runners, but it was too late. He didn’t have the energy to catch Korir and finished four seconds behind him. What he had thought was a phot finish had turned into an embarrassing loss. Friends, the tendency to claim victory too soon has embarrassed more than one runner on the course of life. Starting a business without adequate capital, vision, or stamina for the tough times is very different from making that business into a success. In fact, many a person has begun a career with altruistic enthusiasm only to be distracted by early praise. Praise became conceit. Conceit turned into careless negligence of duty. Consequently, what started so well ended in disaster. Sadly, what I’ve just shared with you happens even more often in relationships. The wedding was beautiful, but the marriage quickly became a catastrophe. Everybody was excited about the birth of such a beautiful baby, but too busy to make her feel secure, or take her to Sunday School and teach her about becoming a woman of faith and virtue. Perhaps friends, that’s why the Bible has so many encouragements couched in the language of athletic competition. Such as, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?” (1 Corinthians 9:24) “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” (Hebrews 12:1) “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…” (2 Timothy 4:7) Friends, it was the late Duke Ellington who once said, “Life has two rules: 1. Never quit! 2. Always remember Rule Number 1.” Well, that sounds like pretty good advice to me and I hope that what I’ve shared with you today will help to reinforce the fact that a good beginning deserves a strong finish. If you’d like to write to me with your comments or questions, I’d be pleased to hear from you. Email me or write to me at P.O Box 1540, Albany W.A 6331. Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418

Friends, the 2001 Peachtree-a 10 kilometre race in Atlanta, Georgia-was won by John Korir of Kenya. His winning time of 28 minutes 19 seconds was not a new record for the annual event. But the circumstances of his winning was the most extraordinary by far in the history of the race. It is also something of a parable about staying with a task until it had been completed. Here’s the story…

Alene Emere of Ethiopia won the 2000 Peachtree and was certainly of the favourites this time. He was leading, in fact, with only 400 metres to go, when he got confused by a crosswalk and bridge where photographers crowd together to take photos of runners nearing the tape. Emere mistook the group with camera for the finish line, raised his arms in triumph, and came to a dead stop!

He only realized his error when someone screamed, “No, no, no. Go!” he tried to regain his position at the head of the line of runners, but it was too late. He didn’t have the energy to catch Korir and finished four seconds behind him. What he had thought was a phot finish had turned into an embarrassing loss.

Friends, the tendency to claim victory too soon has embarrassed more than one runner on the course of life. Starting a business without adequate capital, vision, or stamina for the tough times is very different from making that business into a success. In fact, many a person has begun a career with altruistic enthusiasm only to be distracted by early praise. Praise became conceit. Conceit turned into careless negligence of duty. Consequently, what started so well ended in disaster.

Sadly, what I’ve just shared with you happens even more often in relationships. The wedding was beautiful, but the marriage quickly became a catastrophe. Everybody was excited about the birth of such a beautiful baby, but too busy to make her feel secure, or take her to Sunday School and teach her about becoming a woman of faith and virtue.

Perhaps friends, that’s why the Bible has so many encouragements couched in the language of athletic competition. Such as, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?” (1 Corinthians 9:24) “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” (Hebrews 12:1) “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Friends, it was the late Duke Ellington who once said, “Life has two rules: 1. Never quit! 2. Always remember Rule Number 1.” Well, that sounds like pretty good advice to me and I hope that what I’ve shared with you today will help to reinforce the fact that a good beginning deserves a strong finish.

If you’d like to write to me with your comments or questions, I’d be pleased to hear from you.

Email me
or write to me at
P.O Box 1540,
Albany W.A 6331.

Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418