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As I mentioned, CJ will be sharing a “Charlie Brown Christmas devotional” next week, and for the final weekend of the year, Mitchell will give us the challenge of “Facing What’s Next” as we get started in 2026. These guys are a breath of fresh air to their churches and to our group of pastors! So as we finish this final month of the year, I invite you to reflect on it—and on one of my favorite “finishing well” passages: Hebrews 12:1–3. Each phrase is profound in its own right. A… “Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us…” (Simple Truth… we’ve got “godly PEOPLE” cheering us on!) B… “Let’s throw off the sin that hinders us and the things that weigh us down, and run the race that’s marked out before us with perseverance…” (Simple Truth… we’ve got “ungodly STUFF” weighing us down!) C… “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Simple Truth… our hope to finish well depends on our ability to FOCUS on Jesus!) D… “Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinful men so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart.” (GRP) (Simple Truth… if we don’t focus on Jesus, we will have a tendency to get SPIRITUALLY FATIGUED.) And yes, the GRP is the “George Ross Paraphrase,” which combines translations that have been a part of my life (KJV, NIV, and NLT). Here at the end of the year, let me ask three questions born out of this passage… Who’s your CROWD? What’s your PROBLEM? Where’s your FOCUS? Hebrews 11 had just concluded, acknowledging so many people of great faith throughout Scripture who were in the “memory crowd” of these new believers. Those “heroes” were historically an inspiration to God’s people, encouraging them to finish well. So let me ask Question #1… (Part A) WHO in Scripture this year has become more of a heroic influence in your devotional life? Realizing Jesus is always the right answer… who else in God’s Word has spoken to your life by their example this year? Let’s do multiple choice… A… could it be DAVID? Maybe David has become more of a hero to you because you’ve been reading a lot of the Psalms. Or maybe you’ve watched a lot of the TV show House of David. Or perhaps you’ve turned the corner in letting God’s Word be “a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path”! B… or how about SOLOMON? Maybe you’ve taken a page out of our friend Kevin Boehnlein’s playbook and spent some intensive time with the wisdom of Solomon in PROVERBS. If not, January would be a great time to dive in with Kevin and his friends. Here’s their website if you guys might be up for being part of this great ministry—focusing on Proverbs for a month or even more! (ProverbsPledge.com) There’s so much practical wisdom God can put deep within our minds with a “return trip” to those 31 chapters! C… or has it been PAUL? Maybe you’ve been passionate about reading the New Testament this year, and you’ve encountered a lot of life-changing truth in his writings. Maybe it’s been the deep theology of Romans that’s challenged you, or the pastoral encouragement Paul gave Timothy that prompted you to aspire to a more faithful and fruitful ministry of your own this past year. D… or NEHEMIAH? His book has always stood out to me as so exemplary of leadership in the Old Testament. Nehemiah 8:8 captured my heart long ago and has influenced my attempt to communicate the Word of God. That verse says the priests and Levites came alongside the people in a small-group setting immediately after Ezra preached, and they “made it clear and gave it meaning.” May that be said of every one of us in our attempt to speak the Word of the Lord! And maybe Mike Breaux’s recent sermon on “raising the roof” helped get your attention and brought you some inspiration from the story of Nehemiah! E… or several GODLY WOMEN who had the courage to “confront the King”… thank you, ESTHER! Or “accept the ultimate motherhood challenge”… thank you, MARY! Or ever so discreetly “correct one of the strongest preachers in the early church”… thank you, PRISCILLA! In Acts 18, she pulled Apollos aside with a very gentle, but clear, “theological update” to refine his powerful preaching! Take a moment and decide WHO you’ve become more aware of—and inspired by—in the Bible this year. And now for Part B of Question #1… Who’s in your “EARTHLY crowd”? Identify a person in your life you’ve allowed to “SPEAK truth” into the depths of your heart. Who comes to mind when reading James 5:16, which says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you might be healed”? Who has become that person to you in 2025? Maybe it’s the same person as in 2024, or maybe it’s more of a group of friends you don’t know what you’d do without! Whoever’s in your “earthly crowd” that meets that criteria is what David Benner refers to as a “SACRED COMPANION.” Now, LADIES… You don’t necessarily need to call them and sing the Golden Girls theme, “Thank you for being a friend.” But you really ought to tell them before the year is over you appreciate them being in your Hebrews 12:1 “crowd.” And GUYS… I believe we’re old and secure enough to use the “L word.” You might need to send a Stevie Wonder song to a “friend that sticks closer than a brother,” saying, “I just called to say I love you, man”! On to Question #2… What’s your PROBLEM? All throughout our lives, there is usually a problem to solve, a tension to manage, and a relationship to heal. So what are we needing right now to stop doing that is hindering our spiritual growth? Share that with someone you’re close to, so they can continue to be that “sacred companion”… God’s given to you “for such a time as this”! A… Is there a TENSION I need God to help me manage? (It’s not going away, but will require some spiritual surveillance.) B… Or is there a PROBLEM I need to have God help me solve? (It needs to end and be put in the past.) C… Or is there a RELATIONSHIP that I need God to bring healing to? (Sometimes with a heart of forgiveness, God brings a godly resolve—even if things aren’t totally reconciled.) And finally, Question #3… Where’s your FOCUS? Our world is filled with distractions—competing voices and visuals constantly coming at us. In our finishing-well season of life, those things will exponentially increase. Now, some of you “young ones” in our bunch are still in the 3rd quarter of your life, but many of us are in the 4th quarter… and some in overtime! As a result, we try hard to make our moments count, our conversations meaningful, and our decisions intentional. In all honesty, it feels like time has gotten away from us. Scripture says we are to “FIX our eyes on Jesus.” There’s a difference between a glance and a stare. HE is to be our focal point… Not the finish line itself… And not the scenery around us. And ironically, WE were HIS focal point according to this passage. That phrase “for the joy set before Him” has always intrigued me. What was the joy that was before Him that caused Him to endure the cross? It was us. You and me. Those who would believe on His name. We’ve heard almost every Christmas that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Now, I love things that rhyme as much as the next guy—and while there is great truth from an Advent standpoint (that the incarnation of Christ was paramount in God’s plan of salvation by sending His Son), it isn’t exactly correct. He is the MAIN EVENT of the season. But the reason for His coming—and the need for His leaving heaven—was the dilemma of our sinfulness. WE are unredeemable without Him. “He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except through Him” (John 14). But WE are the reason for the Christmas season. Eternity with us was “the joy set before Him.” Some of us might remember a Christian singer in the 80s named David Meece, who wrote a song entitled “We Are the Reason.” The lyrics to the chorus were… “We are the reason that He gave His life… We are the reason that He suffered and died… In a world that was lost, He gave all He could give… To show us the reason to live.” WE were His focal point that inspired Him to continue from the cradle to an old rugged cross. His focus was heaven WITH you, not without you! Eternity with us by His side was the motivation to carry HIS cross. May eternity by His side be the motivation to carry OUR cross! And may we together celebrate HIM this Christmas season—and well into the new year—“so that we might not grow weary and lose heart”! Love you guys, george
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