THE POWER OF COMPLETION

On the seventh day, when the trumpets blew,

The walls of Jericho fell; God saw them through,

If they had given up midway under the sky that’s blue,

No good would have happened to the marching crew.

Completing what you’ve started is an act of faith,

Obeying God in every step, heeding what the Lord saith,

So complete your projects, both big and small,

Glorify God in all of them, heed His divine call.

Disobedience to God and partial obedience won’t suffice,

God wants total obedience, don’t give Satan a chance,

God wants you to flourish, for you, Jesus paid the heavy price,

Don’t let the good that God has for you to be just a passing glance.

Incompletion is a flaw in God’s perfect plan,

The walls of Jericho did not fall till they reached the seven-day span,

Procrastination and incompletion bring no fun,

Be consistent in your work, and Be diligent when it’s your turn.

Hebrews 11:30 (KJV) – “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.”

Jericho’s walls fell after the Israelites went around them for seven days. Let’s consider the instructions given to the Israelites:

Joshua 6:3-5 (KJV) – “³ And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. ⁴ And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. ⁵And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.”

Given these instructions, the Israelites obeyed everything God had told them, so the walls of Jericho fell flat (Joshua 6:20).

Let’s ask ourselves some vital questions:

If the Israelites had gone around Jericho once and failed to go the other days, would the walls of Jericho have fallen? Would the walls fall if the Israelites had gone around Jericho for 6 days and failed to go on the seventh day? If the Israelites went around Jericho for 6 days and on the seventh day went around it 6 times instead of 7, would the walls have fallen? If the Israelites had done everything the Lord told them to but failed to blow the trumpets and shout, would the walls of Jericho fall? The answer to all these questions is No. There is nothing like Partial obedience. Partial obedience is equal to disobedience.

By faith, the Israelites went around the walls of Jericho once for six days and seven times on the seventh day. They blew the horn and shouted, and as a result of their action, the walls of Jericho could fall. By faith, they completed everything that God had told them to finish. They did not do their duties haphazardly in pursuing the Jericho walls. They did not give up going around those walls until they saw results. They acted with faith. By faith, they trusted God’s process.

Faith goes hand in hand with total obedience and completing the tasks God has commanded you to do. There is power in completion. Faith is believing in the process that God is taking you.

The Bible calls all who fail to complete what they started sluggards. Because failing to finish what you had started (except sin), is failing to fulfill God’s purpose and portrays a lack of trust in God.

Let’s look at some verses that talk about people who do tasks haphazardly, not completing them:

Proverbs 12:27 (KJV) – “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.” Many people think sluggards or lazy people are just people who fail to do anything. If you look at Proverbs 12:27, you can see that the man the Bible refers to as a sluggard goes hunting but fails to roast what he took in hunting. In other words, he fails to complete tasks.

Let’s consider some other verses:

Proverbs 19:24 (KJV) – “A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.”

Notice the word ‘again’ in the above context. It means that the lazy man brought his hands to his mouth once but out of inconsistency, he did not bring it again. Lack of consistency leads to a lack of completion of one’s goal, which is the same as laziness.

Proverbs 6:6-8 (RSV) – “⁶ Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. ⁷ Without having any chief, officer or ruler, ⁸ she prepares her food in summer, and gathers her sustenance in harvest.” The ant does not just prepare her food in the summer; it gathers it during harvest. If the ant, as small as it is, completes what it has started, how much more are we supposed to do, us who God created in His image and likeness?

Proverbs 6:10-11 (KJV) – “¹⁰ Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: ¹¹ So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.” Notice in Proverbs 6:10 the use of the word “a little.” A little laziness can cost one so much. A little delay or procrastination can cost someone a lifetime opportunity. There are blessings in doing every little thing God has ordered you to do. Completing what God has told you to do is highly important. If Jesus came into this world and did everything that God had told him to but failed to die on the cross, the work of salvation would be incomplete, and hence the whole world would be doomed.

In Joshua 6:1-2 (KJV), the Bible says: “¹ Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. ² And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.” God had already secured Joshua and given Jericho to the hands of the Israelites. He just needed them to obey His instructions, and all that was ordained in the spiritual would be accomplished in the physical. If the Israelites had failed to obey God, they would have made God’s efforts to be in vain. This is one of the reasons why the people who have willfully and knowingly disobeyed God will be punished severely on the day of judgment because they have made vain God’s efforts of the salvation work that Jesus did upon His life, death, and resurrection. God has already made you successful in your line of work, but laziness and failing to do exactly what He has told you to do is disregarding God’s efforts.

Most of us fail to complete tasks because of obstacles. In our minds, we expect everything that we have started to run smoothly from the beginning to the end. Since we are in a sinful world, that is not possible. We should not look at the obstacles; we should focus on God, who has power over all obstacles. Ecclesiastes 11:4 (KJV) – “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” The Bible tells us that someone who looks at obstacles will not do anything. “But we must meet all obstacles placed in our way, and overcome them one at a time. If we overcome the first difficulty, we shall be stronger to meet the next, and at every effort will become better able to make advancement. By looking to Jesus, we may be overcomers. It is by fastening our eyes on the difficulties and shrinking from earnest battle for the right, that we become weak and faithless.” – Messages to Young People, Page 46.1, Ellen G. White.

Do you have a project you’ve left pending and failed to complete? Did you start studying a particular Bible subject but were unable to complete that study? Have you chosen to obey God and have done that but failed to follow only one of the commandments? God is calling upon you to complete your work. God is calling upon you to do everything He says precisely as He says it.

“By taking one step after another, the highest ascent may be climbed, and the summit of the mount may be reached at last. Do not become overwhelmed with the great amount of work you must do in your lifetime, for you are not required to do it all at once. Let every power of your being go to each day’s work, improve each precious opportunity, appreciate the helps that God gives you, and make advancement up the ladder of progress step by step. Remember that you are to live but one day at a time, that God has given you one day, and heavenly records will show how you have valued its privileges and opportunities. May you so improve every day given you of God, that at last you may hear the Master say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”- Messages to Young People, Page 46.2, Ellen G. White.

Genesis 2:1-3 (KJV) – “¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. ³And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.”

God rested on the Sabbath after He had completed all His work. You can only truly rest on Sabbath after you have completed all you need to complete during the week. One who has procrastinated and conducted his work mediocrely cannot find peace of mind when the Sabbath arrives. God rested from His work of creation. You rest from work; you do not rest from idleness.

May God give you the consistency needed to complete what you have started.

God bless you!

Prayer

Dear God,

Please forgive me for the delay in tasks. Please help me to complete all the projects that I have started that are in accordance with your will. Please help me to stop procrastinating and to be excellent in everything I do. In Jesus name, Amen.

Activity

List all your unaccomplished life goals.
List all your unfinished projects.
List all your unfinished tasks.
Create a realistic plan on how you will complete your various projects and tasks. You can break it down into months and weeks.
Evaluate yourself at the end of every week on the progress you have made.
Evaluate yourself at the end of every month on the progress you have made.
Evaluate yourself at the end of every year on the progress you have made.

Author: Mark Alex

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