Feria,Tuesday 16 May 2006

Meditation
Acts 14:5-18
It’s a good thing Barnabas and Paul’s enthusiasm for preaching was grounded in Christ and not in the way their message was received! Imagine the mood swings they would have experienced if they had been going by public opinion when they brought the gospel to Lystra (Acts 14:6). In just one day, they experienced the extremes of praise and persecution.
The two men were on a mission to urge people to turn to the living God. They never intended to turn their audience’s attention to the messengers themselves. This is what happened, though, after Paul perceived that a man who was lame and was soaking in his every word had the faith to be healed. What frustration he must have felt when the crowd took the healing not as a confirming sign of God’s power but as evidence that Paul and Barnabas were gods (Acts 14:11-13)! And how humorous that they pegged Paul for Hermes, the messenger, simply because he couldn’t stop talking!
We may chuckle at the scene where even the priest of Zeus wanted to offer sacrifice to the two missionaries, but it was no laughing matter to Paul and Barnabas. To be idolized was the very opposite of what they sought. “Not to us, O Lord, . . . but to your name give glory” (Psalm 115:1). Soon enough, though, the mood changed. Swayed by outsiders, the fickle crowd changed their minds. Instead of worshipping Paul and Barnabas, they stoned them and left them for dead (Acts 14:19).
In the course of our daily lives, we may not experience the ups and downs of the Christian life to the same degree that Paul and Barnabas did. But their example of stubborn faithfulness speaks to us all. None of us can control the reactions we will receive when we try to witness to the Lord. Some people will love us, others will hate us, some may even idolize us. But the only question we should ask is whether we have held fast to the calling God has given us. God can sort out everything else.
“Lord Jesus, help me to stay always at your feet and to be firmly rooted in you. In season and out, may I receive your words of everlasting life and bring them to others.”
Psalm 115:1-4, 15-16; John 14:21-26
Thanks be to God..
Have a blessed day,
Ed....