I'd Rather be a Tortoise

Have you ever read or heard the story of the tortoise and the hare? I'll tell you in my own words.

 

There was a boastful hare who loved to tease the tortoise for his slowness. One day they set out for a race. As soon as it had begun, the hare was off with a bound, sprinting past the tortoise with great speed.

 The hare had long passed the tortoise and in his self confidence decided he would take a nap and then keep running later on. Snooze he would, then off he would go again, then back for another nap. This continued throughout the day. However the tortoise, though slow, didn't stop but simply kept walking.

 Unfortunately for the hare, his choice to continually snooze was much riskier than he had thought. He awoke and started off again, only to realize that just ahead the tortoise was crossing the finish line! The tortoise won the race not for his speed, but because of his diligence. The hare, though his physical ability to run a race was much greater than that of the tortoise, lost the race. His willingness to take risks, sometimes also known as "ease" caused him to lose out on that which he meant to obtain.

There is a principle in this simple child storybook story that we should take notice of and apply to our own lives. Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit."

Ecclesiastes 9:11 also tells us that "the race is not to the swift..."

Matthew 10:22 tells us, "...but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."

It doesn't matter how well you start - But it does matter how you finish. Keep on keepin' on, my friend! The end is all that will matter some day.