Acts 20:17-24

At the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona, Derek Redmond – a British athlete, was running the 400m semi-final. He had a good start. Derek was running at a good pace – good enough to easily qualify for the final race. Then it happened. He said he heard a funny pop. Then within a few steps, he knelt down in agony. The pop he heard was his hamstring tearing. Derek could only look as the other runners crossed the finish line. Four years of training and waiting to only watch the others finish. As the medics came to help him off the track, Derek stood and refused to go without a fight. Obviously in pain, he was going to finish the race no matter what it took.

Out of the stands came Derek’s dad to help him limp the last 100m or so to the finish line. In great pain and floods of tears, Derek finally crossed the finish line. Derek may not have won the race, but he instantly became a celebrity. They said it was the ultimate show of the Olympic spirit – competing against the pain, despite the heartbreak, not for the glory of winning, but to cross the finish line.

Paul often compared life to running a race.

Acts 20:17-24
Back in Acts 9, we saw where Paul had gotten saved. Paul didn’t waste any time getting to work for God. Paul was a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. He was a believer of the great commission where Jesus said, “Go Ye into all the world.”