Acts 21:1-16 | Preparing for DeathSample

When it’s Time

It was time for Paul to leave. All that needed to be said had been said; the goodbyes were complete. So they started for Jerusalem. Even though Paul was confident in his mission, proclaiming he was ready to be bound and to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 21:13), he was also human.

Before he was about to die, Jesus in the garden asked his Father, "Take this cup from me, but not my will; yours be done" (Luke 22:42, NIV). Paul knew what he had to do, and he knew it would require courage and fortitude to accomplish.

Each of us faces these moments. We have reached a point where it’s all on the line and we need to take a cup before us. You are not the first one to be in this position, and you are not alone.

Jesus will walk with you.

These are the decisions that define us. Each of us will have to die to self in myriad ways throughout our living days. And each of us will face death someday. In those moments, proclaim like Paul, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain!”

In the first day of this plan, it was proposed that dying isn’t dignified. To die with dignity requires living a life of worth. The only way to do this is to live daily in the presence of Jesus. It is time.

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