Friday Read: Five Days Left
Five days remain in September. You're in the home stretch - close enough to see the finish but not yet across it. This is when runners either surge ahead or fade badly. This is when students either push through finals or give up because the semester's almost over anyway. This is when you discover whether your endurance outlasts the challenge.
Paul wrote to the Philippians: "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). Notice the timeline: God started the work (past), is carrying it on (present), and will complete it (future). Your spiritual formation isn't stuck in past tense. It's ongoing process that won't finish until Christ returns.
This truth cuts two ways. Encouraging: God's work in you isn't dependent on your performance. Your failures don't stop what he's building. Your setbacks don't derail his plan. He's committed to completing what he began, and his commitment doesn't waver when yours does.
Challenging: If God's still working, you can't coast. You can't declare yourself finished and stop cooperating with the process. You can't decide you've arrived and need no further transformation. Until Christ returns, you're under construction. Humility requires acknowledging you're not yet complete.
These last five days of September test where you are in this process. Will you finish the month pursuing what God's developing, or will you coast because the end is near? Will you maintain commitments because completion matters, or will you relax because "close enough" seems sufficient?
Jesus told a parable about finishing: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish'" (Luke 14:28-30).
The ridicule isn't just about incomplete towers. It's about unfulfilled potential, abandoned projects, started-but-not-finished work. Everyone can start. Few finish. The difference matters.
September 1st, you likely had intentions - things you wanted to accomplish, habits you wanted to form, disciplines you wanted to maintain. Some have survived; many haven't. You can't recover the twenty-five days that are gone. But you can determine how the last five unfold.
What would it look like to finish September intentionally rather than accidentally? To pursue until September 30th rather than coast from September 25th? To complete commitments rather than abandon them because the month's almost over?
This requires honest assessment. What from September 1st still matters? Not everything you intended will survive - some goals were unrealistic, some commitments unsustainable. That's fine. But what truly matters that you've neglected? What core commitment deserves renewed attention in these final days?
Lamentations 3:22-23 promises: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." You don't need to wait for October for fresh start. Tomorrow morning brings new mercy. Today can be the day you re-engage with what September was supposed to accomplish.
Paul testified: "One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). One thing: press on. Not perfectly. Not flawlessly. Just persistently, continuing toward the goal despite setbacks.
Five days isn't much time. But it's enough to finish well. Enough to demonstrate that completion matters more than comfort. Enough to prove you can push through when quitting seems easier. Enough to honor commitments when enthusiasm has faded.
God's completing what he began in you. That work extends beyond September, beyond this year, beyond this life. But how you finish these five days reveals something about your partnership with that work. Are you cooperating with his transformation or resisting it? Are you finishing what matters or coasting toward October?
You can't control September 1-25. Those days are history. But September 26-30 remain unwritten. Write them well. Finish strong. God's completing what he began. Partner with him until the end.
