“And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: but their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.”
Acts 9:23-30 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/act.9.23-30.KJV
Keep the Faith
In the book of 2 Timothy, we find Paul writing a letter to Timothy, a fellow missionary. Many Bible scholars believe that this was the last letter Paul wrote before his death and that he wrote it from a Roman prison cell. Reflecting on his own life and believing that his death is coming soon, Paul writes that powerful passage:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7 NIV
Faithful.
Paul was faithful to God and, without end, God was faithful to Paul. Shipwrecked. Stoned. Abandoned by friends. Imprisoned. The list of what Paul suffered goes on and on. But he persevered. He remained steadfast in his devotion to Christ.
When you think about your life, what do you want to be able to say at the end? What will you see when you look back?
In Paul, we see an example of what it is to cling to faith in Christ. He knew what it was to be dependent on God for everything. He drew strength from God because he could not do it...