But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received for the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (verse 23)
Paul did not shrink from the possibility of martyrdom. He knew that that was what Jesus had ordained for him. His one desire was to glorify God in each small act. That he would be willing to lay his life down every day in countless small ways, until the day when he would be asked to give up his life to the glory of God.
What a contrast for us now days – me especially! I shrink from even those small daily acts of surrender that glorify God, like speaking sweetly, or offering to do something extra to help someone out, or keeping patient even when those around me are testing my patience to breaking point.
We prepare for martyrdom in the little things – the little self-sacrifices that no one but us and Jesus notice. We need to embrace them as Jesus embraced His cross; to run towards them as Paul ran towards his martyrdom. A seed needs to be willing to die in order to bring forth new life. We need to be willing to die, too, and die every day, in order to bring forth a harvest of souls that will praise God for all eternity.
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