DAY 19

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. - 2 Timothy 4:6-7.

What if you were in an elevator at the Empire State Building and the elevator cable snapped? What would your final thoughts be? Shamika Peterson and Joe Masoraca had that terrifying experience Monday afternoon. Shamika said, “We were on our way down when all of a sudden the elevator dropped, like a bungee jump.” “I was terrified.” “I thought I was going to die.” The elevator dropped 40 stories but Joe and Shamika were saved by an emergency breaking system, which stopped it at the fourth floor.

The apostle Paul’s death did not come suddenly. When he wrote the letter we know as 2 Timothy he was facing execution as a follower of Jesus Christ. Paul was imprisoned and living in difficult circumstances. Since his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus he had lived each day for the Lord and his life since that encounter had been poured out for Christ. If Paul had suddenly faced death in a plunging elevator perhaps his thoughts would have been shorter as expressed in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

If you were to face death today what would your final thoughts be? Would you be thinking that you have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith? If not today could be the day of a new beginning. Paul had such a day on the road to Damascus (Acts 9) when everything changed. Instead of persecuting the church Paul became a preacher, missionary, church planter, and writer of a large portion of the Bible through the leadership of the Holy Spirit. If Paul can change, you and I can change. Whatever time we have left of this life let us live it for Christ.