This morning, I thought carefully about Paul’s words in Acts 20:22-24. He writes, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 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.”
Can you imagine coming to the place in your life where you can live compelled by the Spirit to enter hardship? Where you can say that your life is worth nothing to you? That your only aim is to finish the work God has given to you to tell others about Jesus?
I believe this wonderful mission statement of Paul’s reflects the goal of our sanctification–to become like Jesus in His willingness to suffer, His full surrender to God’s will to lay down His life, and His focus to keep as His singular aim to seek and save the lost.