Until just a couple years ago, I would get really bored reading the last few chapters of Acts. I wondered why the Lord thought it important to add all of the travel details of Paul’s trip from his prison cell in Caesarea to his house arrest in Rome?
So, we learn that Paul was put in the charge of Julius the centurion stopping in cities like Sidon, Cyprus, Myra, and suffering shipwreck twice on the small, wild islands of Clauda and Malta. We learn the names of seas, the time of year, and the particulars of what they did to try to save the boat when it was finally lost at sea. We learn the great miracles God did to preserve Paul and his companions for their continued mission. We learn that Paul finally landed in Italy, making his way to Rome being visited by the brethren, where he witnessed of Christ to the Jews, the Roman soldiers, and judges where many believed.
God is vividly showing us an unremitting “go” from Acts 1:8 to Acts 28! The account of the growth of the Gospel to the ends of the earth follows the travels of Peter and Paul, in particular, but also the unnamed evangelists who first took the Gospel to Antioch, Rome, North Africa, and beyond. God took fishermen who had rarely left their state and certainly never had left their country to be on the GO with the Gospel.
You cannot possibly read the book of Acts and understand that God wants us to “just be a witness where we are”! God designed the Christian life so that we, with the Gospel overflowing from our hearts, would desire with Paul to preach “not where Christ was named” (Rom. 15:20).
Every Christian ought to be going with the Gospel. Is there a reason you can’t go on a missions trip this summer? Is that “thing” you want to buy or that “account” you want to fatten a good enough reason?
Is there a reason you aren’t going with the Gospel this week somewhere in driving distance like the other side of town? Is that “hobby” you dedicate so much time and money to really giving you as great a satisfaction as obedience to our Lord’s command to go with the Gospel and the reward of souls saved in heaven as a result of your witness?
Have you thought that the “going” was up to full-time missionaries? Are you content to let there be less Gospel-enthusiasm in you than in others?
Here where I sit in North Africa I share Christ with Muslims every day who have never met a Christian, who have never seen a Bible, who have never heard the Gospel. I want to challenge you to “GO” this summer! Share in the unremitting “GO” of the book of Acts that continues to this day and until Christ returns! God will be with you, guide you, protect you, and use you for His glory!