Paul knew how to keep the main thing the main thing.  He was called to preach the gospel to the lost, and he never lost sight of that primary objective.

1 Corinthians 9:16 (ESV)
¹⁶  For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

Admittedly, these words uniquely apply to Paul.  Paul was called to give his life over to the preaching of the gospel as the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Galatians 2:7-9).  An apostle was one directly chosen and sent out by Christ as one of His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).  The church does not have any new apostles; thus, no one today is chosen directly by Christ to give their lives over to the preaching of the gospel.  Nevertheless, we all must preach the gospel to others whenever we have the opportunity to do so.

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)
¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Because of this command given to all Christians, we could all say with Paul, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”  Paul tells us that fulfilling this obligation is not grounds for boasting.  We are merely doing what God requires.  It is His will that the gospel is spread by his people.  The disciples in the first century knew this to be the case, and they did so even under duress.

Acts 8:3-4 (NKJV)
³  As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. ⁴  Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

The whole church should develop this mentality, that is, that we are going to go everywhere and preach the Word.  What I mean by this is that we develop an evangelistic mindset that leads us to be ready to preach the Word wherever we go if the opportunity presents itself.  Just think of how many souls would be won to Christ if all Christians took advantage of every opportunity to share the gospel with the lost.

Remember, if we, as Christians, do not preach the gospel to the lost, the lost will never be saved.  We are the world’s only hope.

Romans 10:13-15 (ESV)
¹³  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ¹⁴  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

We should all have beautiful feet because we are carrying the gospel to the lost souls of this world.  Woe to us if we don’t.  Like Paul, let us remember to keep the main thing the main thing.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things