Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.
Don't Let Your End be The End
Jeremiah 51:13
"O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness."
The verse above is the prophecy when God told Babylon that their end had come. Though they were a tool in the hand of God to bring judgment upon the nations, their own sins had finally caught up to them. Because they did not deal with their own sins, God told them that their status of being a world power would end. The sad thing about this story is that Babylon did nothing about trying to stop their end. Instead of changing what they did to cause their end to come, they continued in their sin to their own ruin.
The end comes for everyone at some time. For some, the end is that they are near the end of their life because of sickness. Others will see an end come to their ministry because of sin. However, I believe when you know the end is coming, that you should not allow your end to be the end. There are three times in the Scriptures when someone knew their end had come, and in all three cases they didn't allow their end to be the end.
The first person who had the end come was Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a good Christian man whose health left him. The prophet came and told Hezekiah to set his house in order for he was going to die. However, Hezekiah refused to allow the end to be the end. We see his response to the end in 2 Kings 20:1-2 when it says, "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying," When Hezekiah knew the end was come, he prayed and asked God to extend his life so he could give God more years. Christian, don't ever give up on life. When you know your end is near, pray and ask God to give you more years with the promise that you will serve Him.
The second person who saw their end come was Samson. Samson's end came, not because of health, but because of sin. When he stood at the pillars of the Philistine's temple and heard their scorn, he decided not to let sin get the final hurrah in his life. Instead, he prayed in Judges 16:28, "And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." His prayer was for God to use him one more time. So you have fallen in sin, and your Christian service seems to be over. Don't let your end be the end. Instead, pray and ask God to use you one more time. God is a merciful God Who will delight to use you if you will ask Him.
The last person who saw their end come was the unjust steward in Luke 16. When this steward saw that he would lose his stewardship, instead of giving up, he let the end motivate him to start producing. You never know if God will prolong your end if you will start producing in your end. Instead of sulking about your end, you need to use the time you have to produce. If anything, let your end be the most productive time of your life.
Simply put, when you know your end is come, decide to live until the end. Don't die before your end has come, but do as each of these men did and pray and produce until the end. Even if its only for one more time, don't let your end be the end.