That I might preach

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. – Galatians 1.15-17

Paul never tired of sharing what God had done for him. He never wearied of telling others how God revealed His Son to him and called him to preach to the Gentiles. Paul knew that what he was doing now was what he had been destined to do while he was still in his mother’s womb.

I know the focus here is to preach to the gospel to the Gentiles, but I think there is a clearer point to be made. Paul knew that he was called by God to be separated from the world and to preach the gospel.

God has called us out of this world. He has called us also to preach the gospel. Every single one of us – you, me, and every believer around us have been given a ministry of reconciliation. We can only do that by proclaiming the gospel. We too have been called out to this task. People are saved as we boldly proclaim His word and particularly the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let’s look to Paul for the kind of determination we need to preach the gospel to pur friends and neighbours.