Creator, Father, King #261

My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus.

IMAGINE YOU’RE DRIVING HOME after a nice vacation. Suddenly, you see a big, flashing road sign ahead that reads, “WARNING: CONTINUING ONWARD WILL RESULT IN ARREST, IMPRISONMENT, AND MUCH SUFFERING.”

Screeeeeeeeech!!!

You’d slam on the brakes, turn around, and make alternate plans, right?

Well, guess what? The apostle Paul kept going.

Acts 20 describes how Paul, during his third missionary journey, met with the Ephesian church elders to give them an important, yet harrowing message:

Now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.

Not exactly a feel-good farewell. But what faith and courage!

What’s It Mean?

In Acts 21, we learn that Paul was unjustly arrested in Jerusalem for his faith and spent the next several years imprisoned in Jerusalem, Caesarea, and eventually Rome. But he used his first two imprisonments to preach the gospel to powerful governors and kings (Acts 24 and 26; Matthew 10:18). And in Rome, he wrote Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon, and Philippians, and also “welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 28:30-31).

To be a Christian is to suffer for the name of Jesus (John 15:20; 2 Timothy 3:12). Paul embraced this truth and was willing to sacrifice everything he had for the sake of Christ (today’s verse).

This attitude requires a complete overhaul of our natural instincts. Our normal human mindset is to veer toward comfort and selfish desires. But Jesus calls us to something far greater. He calls every true follower of his to “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25, ESV).

Paul did that. What about you?

Now What?

Read Acts 21–28 to learn about Paul’s arrest, trials, and imprisonments.

Did You Know?

After at least two years in Rome, Paul was released from his Roman confinement (Acts 28:30). Extra-biblical Christian sources say after more ministry, he was eventually rearrested and martyred in Rome.