From Miletus, Paul requested the Ephesian elders to come and meet with him there. If Paul went to Ephesus, many days would have been lost, which he did not want to risk. His meeting with them had a sense of solemnity, somewhat like the atmosphere of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples in the Upper Room before his Passion.

Some suggested that Paul was going to Jerusalem against the direction of the Spirit because He revealed the capture that awaited him there (21:11-12). The opposite was true (v. 22). Paul was going the way of the cross as his Lord and Savior had done. He considered his life worth nothing if only he could finish the race and complete the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace (v. 24).

Paul’s life was the best illustration of the principle of a kernel of wheat that fell to the ground to produce many seeds (John 12:24). Paul practiced what he taught his Bible students: “Always give yourselves fully to the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1Cor. 15:58).
Application: Father, thank you for giving me your word today. Please grant me to have the same attitude toward God’s holy mission as Paul. Amen.
One Word: “My only aim is to finish the race” (v. 24)