Boyd Bailey: Follow Through…

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25

Follow through is the difference between just head knowledge and heart felt life application. It is what distinguishes success from failure. Follow through gives a boss creditability and a parent respect. It leads to championship teams in sports and excellence in business. Follow through is a form of honesty that honors the Lord and others.

How does it make you feel when a friend follows through with an act of service? Loved? Grateful? Respected? You probably feel all these pleasant emotions and more. So what do you face today that requires your faithful follow through? Who is depending on you? Jesus defined our responsibility to each other. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

Follow through is an act of responsibility that communicates respect and accountability. Your ability to finish the task is a faith builder for you and for your colleagues. So follow through even when it costs you and you will gain God’s good graces. Avoid an easy shortcut that rests on unreliable sand. Instead, build on the solid rock of what’s right.

Above all else, follow through with what your Heavenly Father is teaching you. Put into practice patience, if He is teaching you to be patient. Schedule the unpleasant meeting and ask the hard questions, if He is teaching you accountability. Make good on your commitment, even if the circumstances have changed. Allow follow through to become your friend who helps you to overcome your fears, as you replace old habits with new ones.

“Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24).

What am I facing that I need to follow through with by faith? What is my Heavenly Father teaching me that I need to put into practice in my life?

Related Readings: Leviticus 26:2-4; 2 Kings 23:3; 1 Corinthians 4:19; 3 John 1:10

Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey