Consider: “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matt. 13.20-21).

There are many who have a good beginning as a Christian but then fizzle out like cheap fireworks on the fourth of July. I know the feeling. When I start too many projects it becomes so hard to finish any of them. I am usually reading three or four books at a time, and some just don’t get finished.

Jesus knows that there are many who readily accept the gospel, yet when hard times hit, they fall away. He warns us of the dangers of not being faithful to the end. It’s like a man who failed to finish building a tower and was then ridiculed by various observers (Luke 14.28-30). Actually, it’s embarrassing.

The expression “flash in the pan” describes such a person.  I have found two possible explanations for its origin. First, it may have come from the practice of miners panning for gold. As they washed the gravel they recognized the gold by a yellow flash of light. But often the gold-like flicker was caused by other bright minerals, so “a flash in the pan” proved to be only an illusion. A more interesting explanation is that it originated in the days of flintlock muskets. An inadequate flash of the primer in the pan of the musket would not explode the charge, rendering the gun inadequate. So a person who failed to live up to his announced promises came to be known as a “flash in the pan.”

Paul said near the close of his life that he had “fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4.7). It was only then that he could claim the “crown of righteousness” (verse 8). Jesus told His apostles, “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Matt. 10.22). Jesus warned of those whose faithfulness was “only temporary, and when affliction of persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matt. 13.21).

It is not the one who merely begins well, but the one who ends well that will be rewarded. Let none of us be known as “a flash in the pan” Christian!

[Adapted, BTW]