Short Time

Read Acts 28:1-16.

Statue of Paul on the island of Malta, from this website

If you knew you only had a short time to live, what would you do? In a non-scientific, online survey, here are some of the typical responses to such a question:

Talk to my children, relatives, friends. Say things I needed to say.

Take out a massive loan and buy myself a trip around the world.

Say my prayers.

Panic.

Tell my story via video and social media.

Make sure the newspaper has a good picture of me for the obituary!

Take off all my clothes and run down the street.

Update my Facebook status.

Start smoking again and play with my dog.

And on and on the list could go...from more serious to much, more more disturbing. Have you ever thought about what you would do with such knowledge?

Paul knows he is likely not going to return home from this trip to Rome. Everyone along his way to Jerusalem warned him that imprisonment and worse was coming his way. Even when he appealed to Caesar, he knows that only shifts the venue of the trial, not necessarily the outcome. Though Rome didn't have anything illegal with which to charge him (which is why he ends up under house arrest), they do have to deal with "rabble rousers" who might be causing problems in the Empire's provinces. Such is Paul, or at least that's what the Jewish leaders are accusing him of. He knows he is at least going to Rome to face trial, and possibly more. Possibly worse. His time could very well be short.

So what does Paul do? He spends the time ministering to those in need. In the previous section, he helps save those on the ship when the ship runs aground. He makes sure everyone gets safely to Malta. And even in Malta, he spends time healing others in the name of Jesus. Paul is not distracted by his possible fate. As long as he has breath, he is determined to be a witness for Jesus.

None of the responses to that question in the above particular non-scientific, online survey even once mentioned Jesus or witnessing or bringing healing to a broken world. We tend to get very selfish when presented with such a question. I am personally challenged by Paul's example, and reminded (again) that my life is about more than what I can or want to get out of it. My life is an offering, given back to Jesus, to be used for him. Short time or long—what am I waiting for? Let's be about the business that we were made for!