Paul died with dreams of future ministry still burning in his heart. Old age had not "aged" his spirit at ail. As we read this letter to the Romans, we know something Paul didn't when he wrote it. We know he would be arrested when he traveled to Jerusalem (Ro 15:30-32; Ac 21). He would arrive in Rome not as a missionary on his way west to Spain (Ro 15:24,25), but in chains. He would be released after some years, but then re-arrested and executed. He was certainly no younger than 55 when he wrote this letter to Rome, and no younger than 64 when he was executed (67 A.D.), but to the very end he writes like a young man, full of zeal and interest in life, full of big plans and dreams for the future. Nothing is dying inside of Paul, it's just getting stronger. Undoubtedly, he too had to cope with declining energy and, frankly, the effects from years of physical abuse (2Co 11:23-33). He himself provides a perfect illustration of a truth he taught to the Corinthian church, "...though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day" (2Co 4:16). Aging is a physical process that can't be halted, but "old" is an attitude.

Today as we return to Paul's opening statement about himself, we will again hear him tell us he's a "slave of Christ," "called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God." But in this study we're going to look at a particular gift God gives those who, like Paul, embrace these three attitudes. And the gift is this: a heart full of dreams.

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