My brother and I used to catch them, trying to be faster than them. We succeeded most of the time, but occasionally they would bite us.
Among the ones we were bitten by were rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouth/water moccasins.
My brother and I seemed to have been immune to the effects of the snakes’ bites due to how many times we’d been bitten or however unlikely, all the bites we’d received were ‘dry bites.’
Still, one of the pastors in our little Baptist church said we were ‘snake handlers,’ referring to a practice in a little Pentecostal church in town.
Whatever the case, this passage from today’s devotions reminded me of those snakes and how fast people’s opinions of us can change.
“Paul gathered a pile of sticks and was putting them on the fire when a poisonous snake came out because of the heat and bit him on the hand.
The people living on the island saw the snake hanging from Paul’s hand and said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He did not die in the sea, but Justice does not want him to live.”
But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and was not hurt.
The people thought that Paul would swell up or fall down dead. They waited and watched him for a long time, but nothing bad happened to him.
So they changed their minds and said, “He is a god!” – Acts 28:3-6
From ‘murderer’ to ‘god’ faster than a snake could bite you. 😉
“All people will hate you because you follow me, but those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved.” – Matthew 10:22
No matter how people feel about you from one moment to the next, if you remain faithful to God, He will remain faithful, steady, and totally in love with you.
