From God's viewpoint, many who are last in this world are first in His eyes.

This is an amazing truth that comes through in seven of Jesus' parables:

1. In Matthew 20:1: The labourers who came at the 11th hour, having wasted 90% of their life (11 out of 12 hours) were rewarded first.

2. In Luke 15:22: The younger son who lost 50% of his father's wealth (his share) and dishonoured his father's name still got "the best robe" in the house and the "ring" - both of which the self-righteous elder brother did not get.

3. In Luke 7:41: The one who had sinned more (and was forgiven more) ended up loving more (thus being closer to the Lord).

4. In Matthew 21:28: The son who was rebellious at first ended up doing the will of his father finally, unlike his brother.

5. In Luke 15:3: The lost sheep got closer to the Shepherd than the other sheep - being carried on the Shepherd's shoulders.

6. In Luke 14:10: The one who took the last place at the wedding-feast, got the most prominent place.

7. In Luke 18:9: The crooked tax-collector who was externally much worse than the Pharisee got ahead of the latter - for God declared him righteous.

All these parables bring forth one message - that many who start off badly finally end up winning the prize.

It is how we finish the race that matters and not how we begin. Those who don't get discouraged and who don't condemn themselves because of the bad start they made in their lives (like Paul) will end up ahead of many others who started well. This should encourage all who have made a mess of their lives, never to give up in discouragement, but to press on in the race.

Paul had made a mess of the first 30 years of his life, before he met Jesus. But he decided to do just "one thing" thereafter: Press on to become like Jesus - forgetting all his past failures and only looking ahead to become like Jesus in the short time that was left for him on earth (Phil.3:13,14). This also included fulfilling the ministry that God had called him to. And at the end of his life, he said, "I have finished the race and now a crown awaits me in heaven"(2 Tim.4:7).

Paul told the carnal Christians at Corinth to "run in such a way as to win the first prize" (1 Cor.9:24).

Even those carnal Christians could come first in the Christian race, if they repented and ran with determination and discipline. This is the hope that we as elders, must give to every Christian who has failed, if they will only repent and determine to press toward the mark of becoming Christlike, at any cost.