David begins to take us through Paul’s last lap, the final phase not only of Acts but also of Paul’s ministry. Through five trials, ending with house arrest in Rome, Paul is unable to be out “doing” his ministry. Yet he’s experiencing a different kind of freedom as he writes his last letter to Timothy: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”

We most likely won’t go through what Paul went through – but the perspective he had, and the internal life that compelled him to do what he did, need to be true about us. In words that Paul wrote to the Philippian church from his prison in Rome,

I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him. (Ph 3:8-9, NASB)