Serving and Waiting

October 31

The great Apostle Paul rested his hope on Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior. Paul, highly esteemed in the hierarchy of the Jewish faith, whose academic and theological training had prepared him to assume a high position among the scholars and religious men of his day, set it all aside when he found Christ.

Of himself after his experience with Jesus on the Road to Damascus, Paul said, “I am determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified” I Corinthians 2:2. Paul knew that none of his accomplishments or accolades were of any consequence compared to the great gift of salvation Jesus gives.

It had become his passion to share this great gift Christ had bestowed upon him with all those he could reach with the knowledge of the gospel. Although he had a great longing to lay aside his tabernacle of flesh and go home to the Lord, he was determined that until he drew his last breath, he would serve the purposes of the Kingdom.

In II Corinthians 5:6-9, Paul declared, “While we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight and we are confident that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.” Like Paul, we must devote ourselves to serving Jesus—and awaiting our moment to be with Him.