Resolution #1: Finisher



After an extensive blogging hiatus, we are back. At least I am. I'm sure the others are right behind me. Holidays throw off routines, as do births of babies, so we missed some days. This post would have been ideal for last Thursday.

Finishing has been on my mind for about a month; the need to finish what I start. It began with the desire to finish books that I had previously started. Now it has extended to the only "New Year's Resolution" that I currently have and goes beyond books. On my literary list is "The Brother's Karamazov," "Mere Christianity," "Leaning Forward" (the autobiography of my thesis advisor that I picked up at a campus bookstore), and a couple others. I've been working on "Karamazov" off and on for a couple years. Other things I mean to finish are wood-carving projects, physical wellness goals, and going completely bald. Time I finished that one off.

What is the value in finishing what I began? For one thing, I can feel the relief of having it done. For another, I began these readings or projects for a reason; there is something of value in the book or the wood-working that led me to originally start, and it is still worth obtaining. Finally, it is good training for the things in life that require that I finish in order to obtain all that is in store for me. Especially according to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In gospel terms, "finishing" is referred to as "enduring to the end." Here are a couple of scriptures that make clear the importance of this principle:

2 Ne 31:16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.
 
3 Ne 15:9 Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.
 
D&C 14:7 And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

I want to say, like Paul was able to, that "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith," and thereby merit the greatest of all the gifts of God.

Forrest
--Who already knocked out a couple books before the New Year began but still faces Karamazov.

Great article called "Finishers Wanted," by President Thomas S. Monson (before being president).