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PROGRAM D-7886
Final exams don’t bring back a lot of good memories for me. How about you?
Ken Blanchard is a well-known American author and management expert, with over 60 books published on leadership and management. He also has taught these topics in universities. He tells the story that he always hands out the final on the first day of the course, as well as the answers. As a result, all of his students get A’s. “After all,” he says, “isn’t it our goal to help the students learn and succeed?”
Now that’s my kind of final. What about you? If you give me the questions and the answers that are going to be on the test, I probably could ace it too.
It sure sounds like the Apostle Paul knew the answers to the final when he wrote this to Timothy:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
Paul was certain he would have the crown of righteousness when he stood before the Lord. How could he be so sure that he had done that well? Because he knew the answers to the final.
He understood that there would be a final exam even for believers in Jesus Christ. He referred to it as “that day”—that day when every believer will stand before Jesus individually to account for what they have done that mattered for eternity. Paul had lived for that day and not for today.
Our time on earth as followers of Jesus Christ is the time we have to prepare for that final exam. In the Bible we are told exactly what will be on the exam. The Bible tells us, “If you do this, you’ll receive certain rewards.” That’s why Paul was confident. He had listened to Jesus and then patterned his life around the things that Jesus said would be on the final; therefore, at the end, he could be certain he would be rewarded.
I want to examine the questions and answers that will be on our final exam, when we stand before Jesus on that day. It will help us live with an eternal perspective.