“Paul
dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to
him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” (v.30-31)
Every
story has an ending. But the great stories end with a new beginning. In the
final chapter of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, the characters are invited
“further up, further in” as the land of Narnia is restored. Lewis writes;
“The
things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I
cannot write them. And for us this, the end of all the stories, and we can most
truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the
beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their
adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last
they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has
read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one
before.” (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle)
Just as
one adventure leads to another in the Narnia series, so Paul’s story is not
over. Even though the book itself comes to an abrupt end, another story is
about to begin. The Epistles are loaded with more chronicles, if you will, on
the life and ministry of this faithful servant of God.
The Truth
His lord
said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant;
you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your lord.’ (Matthew 25:21)
