There is no shortage of famous last words in history. The renowned prognosticator Nostradamus gave his final prediction: “Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here.” Well, he was right. He died that night.
When the wife of acclaimed physicist Michael Faraday asked him if he had ever pondered what he would do in his next life, Faraday calmly replied, “I shall be with Christ, and that is enough.”
We have the apostle Paul’s last words in the form of the second letter he wrote to Timothy. We hear the imminence of his death in the fourth chapter: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:6-7).
What last words!
Paul has inspired millions with these last words, but “last words” do not appear out of the blue. They are forged out of a life lived. Paul could effortlessly share from his heart “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” because that is the life he lived.
One of Paul’s best-known phrases is “in Christ.” To Paul, this is the promise of life he mentions in the verse above—to know not just eternal life, but life in the here and now. Salvation in Christ is not just a promise of future life but of a present one to be lived.
We also have Jesus’ last words in the Acts of the Apostles: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Connect those dots.
Jesus’ last words would drive Paul’s life and his last words. As a servant of Jesus Christ, will his last words drive you toward your last words?
For Nostradamus, it was a life of predictions. For Faraday, it was a life of desiring to be with Christ. For Paul, it was a life of faith lived in Christ.
For you, what will it be? We who are called to give our lives to gospel ministry have the privilege of having our last words echo those of Paul’s.
Be encouraged; before you, there is a blank canvas on which your days begin to paint a picture of your last words. By the grace of God, may your last words paint a picture like Paul’s:
“I am already being poured out as a drink offering,
and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.”