What I've been reading

In our One Year Bible we have been reading Acts lately. I love Acts - the birth of the church, I learn so much from it everytime I read it. Paul is pretty compelling, I mean what living person today could say with integrity 'You want to be like Jesus? Then you need to imitate me, just be like me and you will be like Jesus.'? And yet Paul's life after his encounter with Christ was clearly a reflection of that. I read the passage below a few days ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. It is from Acts 20. This is Paul speaking to the elders at Ephesus:

18 When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now 19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. 21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 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.

25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. 26 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

He goes on to say:

32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

33 “I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. 34 You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. 35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

I can't imagine living that kind of life, where you can say with integrity - if anyone goes to hell, it isn't my fault because I boldly told everyone about God.

I miss evangelism - not the stand on the corner with a tract kind of thing - but the life sharing/imparting with others about the transforming work of God. When I read about Paul imparting the Gospel to others he rarely confrots sin outside of the church, most of the time he is just telling other people about his encounter with Jesus and what he knows to be true about God.

It is that simple. Sometimes it feels really complicated - probably because I make it about myself and what I have to offer instead of about what God has done FOR me that I couldn't do on my own. When I haven't really felt a NEED for God I find that I have little hope or life to impart to anyone else because there is nothing bigger to point to than myself.

I don't really know what the point of this is other than mutual edification and a reminder that "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." - Amen