The Good Fight

Moses was coming to the end of his life and the end of his journey with the Israelites to the edge of the Promised Land - even though he knew he would not see it, he continued to be faithful to God's call upon his life. We can read his words in Deuteronomy 30:
15 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,
16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,
18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.

God has called us to a life of obedience to Christ, and we have the capacity to be obedient to Him. Moses made his share of mistakes, but you can see how he was determined to fulfill the mission that the Lord had given him, even during his final days.  We can have that determination in the Spirit - being resolute to do what God has called us to do, until the day He calls us home, to, as Paul writes, "fight the good fight," and embracing all the Lord has in store for us. 

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The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in what you may consider the "final act" of his life and exhibited an attitude that each of us can possess - to be faithful until God calls us home. 2nd Timothy 4 states:
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Roy is a pastor from North Carolina, who just stepped away from ministry as a full-time pastor about a year ago.  He's also ministered on Native American reservations for over 50 years. But, he continues to do ministry, preaching online through Facebook.  His eyes have been affected by macular degeneration and his hearing is not what it once was, but he's taken care of himself physically.  Roy Jernigan is quoted at The Christian Post:

“Well, I'm going to be honest with you. In my life, [I] just simply stayed with the Lord. He saved me when I was 28 years of age. I turned my life over to the Lord. And from that time on, I have tried to eat properly. And I have exercised, kept my body in good condition, and I live right..."

He goes on to say: 

“As you probably are aware, I don't have a doctor and I'm on no medication and I have been doing exercises. I do body exercises or push-ups every day. And I generally walk about a mile or two. And I've been doing that for years and [this] has kept my physical body in good condition,” Jernigan said when asked how he has managed to stay so healthy in his old age. “My whole life, people say, ‘Why don't you retire?’ My life, really, to be honest with you, my life is my ministry.”

And, on January 24 of this year, he celebrated his 98th birthday by doing something unusual: he went skydiving!  Pastor Roy said:

“In about September, October (2022), I started praying about this thing. And I said, 'Lord, if you can get the glory out of it, I’ll do it. But it's not for me. I'm not a thrill seeker. I have nothing to prove. I have been up the mountain, down the mountain, through the valleys. I'm not trying to prove anything. But if I can give you the glory out of this, and you will give us the weather fitting, I'll jump unless you tell me no,'” Jernigan said. “If it's a bad day, I'll know it's a no. And so I left it and I prayed continually every day.”

The article notes, "Jernigan took the jump with Skydive Coastal Carolinas and survived, much like he did in World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars as a Naval Corpsman."

So, after losing his wife in 2011, which was a particular challenging time for him, he lived alone, then moved back to North Carolina in 2021 with his daughter, Linda, who had also lost her spouse.  She now is responsible for driving him around due to his eye struggles. Regarding the loss of his wife, Pastor Roy states:

“When she was going through the great difficulties it was very tough, but prayer and trusting the Lord, He brought me through it,” he said of his wife’s passing. “I didn't really see any purpose. But then I recognized that I had a lot of people that loved and prayed for me and wanted me to keep going. So I picked up the pieces and by God's grace and mercy, I have continued on,” he said. “There's no doubt about it. When my wife died, part of me died. One of the people said the best part.”

So what about you?  Are you ready to "take the jump?"  To enter in to what God has for you, that is.  Even if that is somewhat uncomfortable?  Just a thought.  God has so much in store for us, just as His plan for Pastor Roy has been amazing and seemingly unending, just the way it should be. This can be an inspiration to us.

Because God doesn't set an "expiration date" for our usefulness - until he calls us home! Now, there may be limitations along the way, especially as we age.  But, the determination of the length of our ministry belongs to Him, not to an artificial decision we may make.  Just as the length of our days on earth are determined by Him.

So, we can do what we can when we can. And, when it seems we no longer can, then we can come to terms with that, according to God's timetable.  But, we can continue, as Paul writes, to fight the good fight, to not give up, and continue to trust in the Lord, being a good steward of the time we are given here on this earth.