What Moves Me?

"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I recieved from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." -Acts 20:24

God told Paul to go to Jerusalem. A place Paul probably knew well, because before his conversion on the road to Damascus he was a Pharisee. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians he was..."circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as th the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless."

Paul said he was a persecutor of the church. If we know anything about Paul, after he gave his life to Christ, he was the one being persecuted. And this persecution was not lite, people were out to kill Paul. If anyone had a reason to run and hide, it was Paul.

When Paul said, "none of these things move me," he was talking about these very persecutions and sufferings he would have to face in Jerusalem.

"And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me." Acts 20:22,23

"NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME!" To me, this is amazing! Think about it, usually, if someone asked you to go somewhere or do something and something horrible or even life threatening COULD happen (emphasis on could) we probably would think twice about going or even just flat out refuse to go. That's why it's not safe to walk in dark alley's at night. (well, I hope you feel the same about dark alley's, Haha) But with Paul, none of these things moved him.

To Paul, it was all about, "Testifying to the gospel of the grace of God."

But here's the question, "What about you?" Better said, "What about us?"

If we were called by God to go somewhere, would we go, not knowing what will happen to us? The question is, "What moves you?" Paul was, "bound by the Spirit." Are you?

Could you say, just as Paul did, "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:8,9