Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard: Things are not always what they seem

Tuesday 24 January 2023

Things are not always what they seem

"So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live"' Acts 28:1-6 NKJV

We have to be so careful about what we see. Things are not always the way they look or how we think they look. People's names have been dragged through the media portraying them as guilty of something when, they have been innocent. Things are not always what they seem.

Here we see Paul, following his shipwreck being treated well by the people of the land. They prepare a fire and Paul helps out. As he picks up some sticks to place on the fire, a snake - possibly similar to an adder, jumps out because of the heat and bites on to his hand. As it hangs there, the people don't help him but choose to discuss this. They believe Paul may be a murderer, who has escaped the sea drama but is now suffering the consequences through the snake bite - justice. However, Paul just shakes the snake off into the fire and then they start believing that he will soon swell up and die because of the poison. When he doesn't, they believe he is a god. They were superstitious people who believed in the myths of the world and always had to find reason why something had happened.

The snake was just doing what snakes do. It was laying around, camouflaged waiting for its next feed. It's difficult to see a snake at times. They can be so easily missed, as happened here. They crawl into situations and hide, then at the right moment, they attack and bite. They are crafty serpents and an enemy to their prey. They're not unlike our enemy, the devil. He has similar characteristics as Peter mentions in 1 Peter 5:8, 'Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour.' Notice that he acts like a roaring lion, not is a roaring lion. There is a difference. If we get ourselves into things we shouldn't be involved in, we are likely to meet with him. Rather like a snake, the devil mostly strikes if you get too close to him.

We need to watch what we say about people and situations because, we may be very wrong and this may cause the person a lot of pain or trouble. When we get it wrong, we are tempted to gossip and the rumour spreads like an infection. We need to take on board Paul's teaching on love in 1 Corinthians 13. Here, among other things, he tells us to always think the best of people; to love them and keep no record of their wrongs. Let us beware of crawling into situations and seeing only what we want to see. This is not the teaching of God. Don't forget, the devil will pull strings to help you get it wrong!