2 Timothy 4:6-15: in context

Near the end of his life, awaiting execution, Paul looks back over his course and forward to what awaits. The time of my departure has come, he writes. And then, without boasting but with settled peace, he sums up his life: I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith. From now on, he says, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not to me only, but to all who have loved his appearing.

Paul's words at the end of his life describe a life finished well. He does not say he has succeeded by the world's measures, or accomplished great things, or lived without hardship; his life had been full of suffering and would end in execution. What he says is that he has fought the good fight, finished the course, kept the faith. He had run the race to the end, persevered through all the hardships, kept his faith and his ministry to the finish. And so he can look ahead without fear to the crown of righteousness that awaits him. His was a life finished faithfully, and the finishing was the point. This holds up the goal of the Christian life: not merely to begin but to finish faithfully. The life of faith is a course to be run, a fight to be fought, a race to be completed; and the goal is to reach the end still fighting, still running, still keeping the faith, so that we too can say at the last, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. It is possible to begin well and not finish, to run for a time and then fall away, as Demas, whom Paul mentions, deserted him for love of the present world. The goal is not merely to start but to persevere to the end. Run in such a way, Paul says elsewhere, that you may obtain the prize; and the prize is for those who finish. This gives us both a goal and a hope. The goal is to finish faithfully, to persevere through all the hardships of the course, to keep the faith to the end, so that we reach the finish still running. And the hope is the crown that awaits those who do: the crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give on that day, not to Paul only but to all who have loved his appearing, all who finish faithfully. That I may finish my course, Paul says elsewhere, was his single aim. This calls us to run with perseverance toward the finish, not content merely to have begun, but pressing on to complete the course faithfully. Paul, at the end, could say he had finished the course and kept the faith, and looked to the crown that awaited him. And the same crown awaits all who finish faithfully, all who love Christ's appearing; so we are called to run our own course to the end, keeping the faith, that we too might finish well and receive the crown the righteous Judge will give on that day.

Am I content merely to have begun the life of faith, at risk of not finishing, like Demas who deserted for love of the present world, or can Paul, who at the end of his life could say, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith, and looked to the crown of righteousness awaiting him, move me to run my own course with perseverance toward the finish, keeping the faith to the end, that I too might finish well and receive the crown the righteous Judge will give to all who love his appearing?