Seven days with Paul_THE REASON AND THE RISK

It was the kind of moment that people have nightmares about. A tanker lorry filled with 2,500 gallons of propane gas caught fire while parked at a fuel storage warehouse. The flames shot out of the back of the lorry and quickly spread to a loading dock. The whole place was in danger of exploding.

The warehouse manager rescued the badly burned driver and then jumped into the blazing lorry and drove it away from the warehouse. His quick action and bravery saved many lives.

The apostle Paul also risked his life for others (2 TIMOTHY 2:10). He was stoned and left for dead (ACTS 14:19). Another time he was mobbed, whipped and imprisoned (16:22-23). Three times he was shipwrecked, and he was beaten many times with lashes and rods (2 CORINTHIANS 11:23-28). Why did Paul willingly go through such suffering? He knew that saving people from hell was worth the risk of pain and even his own death.

Do we see things as clearly as Paul did? Do we realise that the most important thing in the whole world is that people know Jesus for themselves? Do we have the same sense of purpose and urgency to tell people about Him? Are we part of Jesus’ rescue mission, like Paul was? Are we willing to get laughed at and lose friends just to give them the opportunity to hear how much they need Jesus?

Completing the picture . . .

Paul’s attitude to his life is summed up pretty well in the first letter he wrote to the church at Corinth (in Greece): “I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible” (1 CORINTHIANS 9:19). Paul taught in many different countries and cultures. He always tried to meet people where they were ‘at’, becoming “all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (V.22). His second missionary journey gives us a great example of this. He preached a sermon in Athens using the idols, statues and poetry of the culture as a starting point for him to talk about Jesus in terms the people there would understand (SEE ACTS 17:16-34).