Giving Our All
Opening Prayer
Master and Friend, awaken the passion in me that would help me grow to be more like Your servant Paul.
Read Acts 20:13-24
[13] We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. [14] When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. [15] The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. [16] Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. [17] From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. [18] When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. [19] I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. [20] You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. [21] I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. [22] “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. [23] I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. [24] However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What was Paul's motivation?Paul was full of passion! He was single-minded in his thirst to spread the Gospel, never missing an opportunity to preach, in public or private (20). He held his own safety second to his calling, the job he knew with certainty God had given him–the “task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (24). Most of us don’t live with the same single-minded focus that Paul shows in these verses. Yes, we try to follow God, but it can sometimes feel like just another “hobby,” squeezed in amidst our job, our family, our social life or our leisure pursuits. We may not be called to the same intense schedule of biblical teaching as Paul (Jas. 3:1), but we are all called to something. In Paul’s letters to the early church he encourages us to discern what our talents or gifts are, and to use them wholeheartedly (1 Cor. 14:1-5; Rom. 12:6-8). We are all different, but our challenge is the same–to be as all-out for Christ as Paul was.
Apply
Consecrate yourself to God and his purposes. Choose to lay down all other pursuits and willingly embrace the cost.
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to see the eternal significance of Your Gospel and choose to be faithful to live in light of this significance.
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