Recently I came across a movie that will probably go down in my books as one of the best movies I have ever seen. I have seen it four times already, and every time a family member or friend suggests renting a movie, this is the one I recommend they get. It’s calledThe Book of Eli and stars Denzel Washington. The reason why I like this movie so much is because of its incredible scripting and language. Time and time again, there are these powerful one-liners that are so profound that they make you stop and think about your own life. I found myself relating to many of the lines, but it was the prayer at the end of the movie that impacted me the most. Take a look…
As Eli is praying to God he says, “Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I am so very tired. But I go down to my rest at peace knowing that I have done right with my time on this earth. I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith”.
There are two reasons why this prayer really brought this movie home for me; one because it reminds me of Paul’s letter to Timothy in the Bible before he died, and two because it reminds me of the eulogy that my brother gave at my grandfather’s funeral.
He ended his speech and saluted our beloved Marine veteran saying:
I believe that at the end of Papa’s life, he saw more clearly than he ever did. And because of that, he ran with persevering hope and finished his race with honor. It would be good for us to follow his lead and spend our own moments each morning and evening counting our blessings as we consider our eternal God.Papa, I love you and miss you and say to you, well done, Marine, you fought hard and finished well.
I thought it profound that my brother chose to use Paul’s words to Timothy as his closing words for such a heroic man. And I think it so profound that Gary Whitta decided to end one of the most heroic movies that I have seen in a while using the same verse too.
All three of these men (my grandfather, Eli, & Paul) finished their lives with purpose. They all, as my brother so eloquently put it, “saw more clearly than they ever had” walking out the purposes of God. They all found true joy in fulfilling what they knew to be right and good despite their scary circumstances.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be able to have that same confidence when I get to the end of my days. I want to live my life in such a way that when my life is over people would remember me for fighting the good fight, finishing the marathon of life that is plagued with ups and downs, and keeping my faith despite the compromising world that is infiltrated by post-modernism around me.
It ‘s the easy thing to do to let ourselves drift with cultural currents, keeping our minds fixed on the things that we see, and never consider the things of God. But what a disservice we do to ourselves and to the One who created us to live in such a false sense of reality. We must remind ourselves on a daily basis that one day soon we will be standing before God. We must remind ourselves that that day is REAL and it is COMING just as Jesus said in Mark 1. And lastly, we must remember that this fight, this race, this “keeping the faith” is going to take a lot of strength and energy and we are going to finish it tired, worn out, and poured out. Let this not discourage us from running, but let it only equip us with confidence that we are running the right race!
Once our lives are poured out, and our days on earth are no more, then just as Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:8 we will receive “the crown of righteousness that is laid up for us, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to us on that Day, and not only to us, but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
