In Acts chapter 20, Paul is compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, not knowing what would happen to him there, knowing that in every city the Spirit warned him that prison and hardships would face him.
Paul says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may FINISH THE RACE and COMPLETE THE TASK the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (verse 24, emphasis mine).
Before Paul departs for Jerusalem, the elders of Ephesus share an emotional farewell with him. They kneel down and pray and weep as they embrace and kiss Paul, knowing they will never see him again. What a heart-wrenching farewell with his dear friends and co-laborers for the gospel.
I am deeply impacted and motivated by Paul’s drive to complete what the Lord gave him to do and his confidence in having NO REGRETS upon departing. Paul declares he can say so because he had never hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to them, but taught publicly and from house to house, declaring to all that they “must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (verse 21).
He goes on to encourage the Ephesians to keep watch over themselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit made them overseers. He tells them to be shepherds of the church of God, which Jesus bought with his own blood (verse 28). He warns them to be on guard because wolves would come after them to draw disciples away.
Would it not be amazing to one day come to the end of a chapter of our lives or ministries and have NO REGRETS, and like Paul, to be able to say we lived in a godly way, having boldly declared, “Turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus”?
What could we do now in order to later say, “I’ve completed the task God gave me and I have no regrets”? Maybe our current priorities would change; maybe our focus would be fixed on the ultimate goal even in the midst of tending our present troubles; maybe our boldness would be greater; maybe our fear of man would be tiny in comparison to our fear of and passion for God. What might it look like for you?