Today's Daily Lesson is from the book of Acts chapter 28 verses 3 through 5:
3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
In Pulitzer-Prize cartoon editorialist Doug Marlette's famous Kudzu cartoon strips, it was said that the town was so backward that even the Episcopalians handled snakes.
I for one absolutely hate snakes and was glad when I learned all that stuff at the end of the book of Mark where Jesus says believers will handle serpents and drink poison was an add on, and not part of Mark's original manuscript. In other words, Jesus really didn't say that. Somebody only said he said it. Whew.
And yet, here we have in today's lesson Paul being bitten by a snake and then shaking it off and going on like nothing happened. What to do with that?
I have no doubts about Paul having miraculously survived the literal bite of a snake. I'm sure it lieterally and physically happened. But I am thinking more today about the spiritual meaning - how it might be true for all of us that we can be snakebitten yet not succumb.
A mature Christian can withstand all sorts of biting scorn and venomous contempt. That's not to say the bite doesn't sting and the poison doesn't sicken. But no matter how venomous others may be, and no matter how noxious a situation is, they're just not going to be able to kill the spirit.
I'm not there yet; I'm only getting there. And on the way, I think I'll still avoid the snakes when I can. And when I can't, I hope, like Paul, I'm able to shake them off and trust God for the strength to see me through.
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