What Really Matters

If you were to sum up your life right now, your purpose on this earth, what truths would you want to emphasize to your friends and family? What regrets would you have?

In Acts 20 the apostle Paul gave his final words to the elders of the church he had started in Ephesus. He essentially was summing up what really mattered to him in life. Among them was this statement: “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 received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (verse 24 NKJV).

There’s an important word in Paul’s statement: “joy.” Paul was saying, “I’m looking back on my life and on what I have done here, and one word seems to sum it up well: joy.” This word could be translated “exceedingly happy.” Joy is an operative word in the life of the Christian.

Maybe you’re thinking that things must have been going reasonably well for Paul. But look at the preceding verses, where Paul said, “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me” (verses 22–23 NKJV).

Paul knew what adversity was. He knew what suffering and hardship were. But in the midst of it all, he was saying there is joy.

Sometimes people think Christians live the most boring lives conceivable. But the fact is that the happy life is the holy life, the life lived for God.

Jesus not only promised us life beyond the grave, but He also promised us a dimension of life on earth that is worth living.