Acts 23:11

And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

The FedEx Cup playoffs begin today and Tiger Woods will play in his first event since The Open. Last season, he won the final event at East Lake while Justin Rose earned the FedEx Cup and the large check. Lest we forget, Tiger also won the Masters during this latest and probably final comeback. However, his body has been experiencing the life over 40 symptoms of tightness and fatigue. Why is he even doing this? What more could he possibly accomplish other than breaking Jack’s record for number of majors?

The Lord visited Paul in prison to give him both a “pick me up” and direction to continue on with his good work. Paul easily could have considered this to be the end of his missions for Christ. He preached Jesus Christ to gentiles inside Christian Church and also inside the Jewish Sanhedrin. He had already did so much preaching about the salvation by and through Jesus Christ and establishing churches to carry. God, however, had more for Paul to do as he told him “you did your job in Jerusalem, but you have more to do in Rome!”

It is easy for us to become settled in our saved spiritual state and feel as if we “put in our time” and “feel as if it’s someone else’s time.” God does not have a retirement plan or home for us here on earth. I’m afraid as one local pastor said, “our churches are becoming rest homes for the Saints.” The church is a place for activity – she is on the move. The building structure may be fixed upon the earth, but her members are mobile for a purpose. God gave Paul the duty to go and preach the grace of Christ in Rome which was the center of the world during this time. He had already done so much, but still had so much more to do. God’s instructions to go to Rome also gave Paul comfort that he wasn’t going to die in Jerusalem. Additionally, it served as a hint for Paul to later appeal to Caesar. When we keep going for God, His word and presence through the Holy Spirit will provide us comfort and guidance during our journey. A lost and dying world is in great need of someone to exhibit love and forgiveness. This hate and division thing doesn’t seem to be working. Let us carry on and finish our course!