1 Kings 7:51
“So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.”
Starting a project is always easier than ending one. You will find that most people can start projects, but very few will follow through to completion. I’m reminded of an unfinished project I would see every time I drove to the western side of Pennsylvania. There was a church that was trying to build a replica of the ark, and for years the steel framework has stayed unchanged and not finished. It became a joke to my daughter and me every time we saw it.
Solomon was a person who not only started projects, but he also finished what he started. The verse above says, “So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD.” This project covered several years, but Solomon did not let the longevity of the project stop him from finishing. This project was tedious at times, but he did not let the slow moving intricacies keep him from getting to the end. This project was complex from start to finish, but he did not allow its complexities bog him down and keep him from getting to the end of the project. He started the project, and he ended it.
One of the areas where your life will be defined is by how many projects you completed. People look at someone who finishes a project with much greater respect than those who never finish what they start. You should never be known as someone who doesn’t finish what they start. If you start a project, you must determine to finish it.
One of the things that keeps a person from ending a project is they start too many projects. I’ve watched many pastors start so many projects that they don’t finish any of them. If you are going to be a person who makes it to the end, then you must not allow yourself to start so many projects that you can’t end them. Only start what you can complete.
Moreover, you must not allow yourself to be sidetracked with what you start. Once you start a project, you must stay focused on it to the end. Don’t let yourself become bored with the project to the point that you quit it. It takes character to get to the end of what you started. Everyday cannot be a groundbreaking day. There are some days when you are going to have to plod through them to get to the end.
Furthermore, if you are going to end right then you must keep the quality of work all the way through the completion of a project. I have watched many people let up at the end of a project just so they can end it and move on. Don’t ever give up quality and effort for the sake of finishing. Do it right all the way through. Give the whole project your best effort, and never let up in the quality of what you are doing.
Let me ask you, do you have projects that are not completed? I challenge you to start taking each project you’ve started and complete them one by one. Don’t become known as someone who can’t complete a project. Keep it going and do it right. Be a person who ends right. It will take character and focus to be that type of person, but the effort and character it takes to end a project will help you to have a fulfilled life when you are old.