QUOTE : Paul was driven to fulfill his ministry. He told the Ephesian elders, “I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). That ministry consisted primarily of the preaching of the word of God, of “declaring … the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27). And Paul fulfilled that ministry. Near the end of his life he exclaimed triumphantly, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). His economy of effort, his single-minded devotion, and clear, direct focus on the task God had given him enabled him to carry out his ministry fully. He set himself to do God’s will, nothing more or less, and stayed within that narrow prescription.