Finishing Strong

Watched a very interesting football game last night.  Living in the Dallas Metro area, it seems as if the only team in America is the Dallas Cowboys. Personally, I am a Pittsburgh fan and I really can't stand the Cowboys all that much.  I was however, cheering for them to win last night (not because I wanted them to win as much as I wanted their opponent to lose!).  The end of this game got me to thinking about a leadership principle that I often don't even consider- "Finishing Strong".  

I usually don't put much thought into finishing strong right now because I still consider myself to be relatively young.  I have been in full time ministry for a little over 8 years, and "Lord Willing" I plan to have several more great years ahead of me in ministry, but I realized last night that the choices I am making right now and the habits I am forming will determine wether or not I "Finish Strong".

Just in case you didn't catch the game last night, the cowboys failed to win because of a breakdown in a very fundamental area of the game, Tackling.  They simply failed to tackle in the final crucial moments of a game.  Having never played football, I can't imagine how difficult it is to tackle a 260 lb. running back who is charging full steam ahead, but I do know that tackling is something that players are taught when they first begin to play the game.

It became very obvious last night that the Cowboys didn't prepare to win that game.  That Preparation should have begun way back in August when they were in Training camp.  They might have cost themselves a chance at the playoffs because of their inability to tackle at the end of the game.

I don't want to be like that, I want to make sure that I am prepared to Finish Strong, and the time to do that is right now, not later.