Spent.

Spent:

Adjective

Having been used and unable to be used again.       18 When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes.21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me,23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Acts 20:18-24 (NLT)     When Paul said goodbye to the Ephesians, he could honestly say that he had done everything that he could do to make sure that the Ephesians knew Jesus. He was SPENT for the cause of Christ. He was spent so that this community would know Life and have life.   When we die and stand before a holy God, who knows the truth of our hearts and efforts, will we be able to speak the words of Paul in Acts 20? Will we be able to honestly say that our time was spent doing "the Lord's work"? Will we be able to say we put others first and spent tears for our people? Will we be able to say that Christ was our message and we spent our lives not shrinking back from making Him known?   What are we pouring our lives into? One day the last drop will drip. Was it spent well?   But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Acts 20:24