John 2:10
“And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”
When I ran track in high school, one of the things we learned in the longer events was to save some energy for the last lap. We were warned that if you use up all your energy in the beginning of the race that you wouldn’t have anything left for the home stretch. If you watch track, you will always see that the runners will save their best for the last stretch.
One of the characteristics of Jesus is that He always saves the best for last. Everything always gets better the longer you are with Jesus. In the verse above, He was at a wedding where they ran out of something to drink. This had to be embarrassing for the parents. Either they didn’t plan well enough, or more people showed up than what they expected. Mary, the mother of Jesus, told the people that whatever Jesus told them to do that they should do it. When they approached Jesus about this problem, He told them to fill the water pots with water and then serve it to the people. As they served the water, it became wine (a fruit juice). When the people tasted the wine, they were amazed that the ruler of the feast saved the best wine for last.
One of the things you can learn from this miracle is that you should always save the best for last. This is one of the differences between Satan and God. Satan gives you his best at first, and it gets worse the longer you’re with him; whereas, the longer you are with Jesus, the better it gets. God always saves the best for last. Salvation is good, but spending an eternity in Heaven is better. When you read God’s Word, you find that His Word gets better the longer you read It. God wants His children to learn to save the best for last. Let me give you a couple of thoughts that will help you in this area of your life.
First, saving the best keeps people wanting what you have. If you use up your best at the first, then you lose your marketing ability. One of the keys to people wanting you around is that they know they will always get something better the longer they are with you. You would be wise to not give everything at one time.
Second, improve yourself so you always have something better to give. In other words, don’t ever stop learning. The day you stop learning is the day you stop becoming useful to others. No matter what your position may be, you need to constantly work at learning more so you can improve what you can give to people.
Third, don’t despair when others initially do better. There are many people in life who are sprinters, and they have something good at the beginning, but they have not saved their best for last. If you are consistently better with what you give out, you will find that people will come back. I have learned as an evangelist not to be too concerned with the new evangelist on the block. If I keep working at improving what I can give, then they will continue to have me back. Likewise, you must not let the temporary loss discourage you. You will find that there will always be a new kid on the block, but they will eventually wear out their newness, and if you keep putting out good, then you will win back those who are looking for better.
Simply put, don’t be a person who always gives out your best at first. Always learn to save the best for last. In your life, don’t spend money on things when you’re young, but save the best for last. As a ministry leader, save the best for last so they will keep coming back. Saving the best for last will only happen if you keep working on improving your capability to give better the next time.