Shake it off! !

                     'But Paul shook the snake off...' Acts 28:5 NIV

                                        

In the Book of Acts, Luke wrote what happened after a shipwreck: 'The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper...fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live." But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.' (Acts 28:2-6 NIV)

You know how fickle people are? Here's a classic case: one moment Paul is seen as an evil criminal, the next he may as well have been elevated to Heaven. But Paul shows us how to avoid both extremes: 'Shake it off!' Yes.

Shake it off! We should beware of those who change their mind about us when our circumstances change. We need to build our lives on those who believe the best about us, and want to bring it out. Behind Paul's spectacular success in ministry you will find people who never stopped believing in him. Priscilla, Aquila, Epaphroditus, Onesiphorus and many others. Look for such people in your life; they'll bless you. And they're out there!

SoulFood: 1 Sam 1-3, Lk 1:57-66, Ps 59:1-8, Prov 16:20-22