Living Abnormally

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LIVING ABNORMALLY

Acts 28:1-6

28:1 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 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." 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 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.

NIV

In normal circumstances when someone, such as Paul, is bitten by a viper, which is one of the deadliest snakes, the symptoms are redness, swelling, bruising, or blistering around the bite along with severe pain, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea and labored breathing and in extreme cases, breathing may stop altogether. However, that was not a normal circumstance because it was Paul, a believer in Christ Jesus, a child of God who is totally sold out to the resurrected Christ. So then, he merely shook the snake off his hand and went about his normal life. However, this event changed the minds of the islanders regarding identity of Paul. At first, because of the snake bite, they considered it a sign that he was a murderer, however, when nothing happened, the most unusual thing they had ever seen, they then believed Paul to be a god. One thing that is interesting about this changing of their minds, is how this particular Greek word is only used here. Metaballo means to throw over, to turn about in opinion. It is a form of, or akin to the Greek word Metanoeoo which means to repent, change one’s thinking. However, the most interesting point in this narrative is how Paul reacted to the snake bite and as we will see next, how he ended up healing all the sick on the island. That is not to say a man can be a healer, but that God heals through a man’s prayers. At least that seems to be the way God works in most cases, but we would be wise not to put God in a box, as in trying to put a square peg in a round hole, it just doesn’t work. We have to be open to God working however, he determines to work, and we will know through the power of the Spirit when God desires to use us to pray for healing. We will leave more of those thoughts to when we get there in the next narrative. However, what we can grasp ahold of now is the fact that Paul was not affected by the snake bite that in most cases would have killed a person. What we are wondering is if today we have become lethargic in our faith and we accept all sorts of ailments or illnesses as a normal way of life for a believer in Christ Jesus. It is true that our bodies are corruptible not only in the sense of our capacity of sin but in a physical sense, that we will experience the aging process, with our bodies changing and becoming less able to do those things we did in our youth. However, this should not be an excuse to be apathetic in our faith and allow, metaphorically, a snake bite, to hamper us in the least bit. We just wonder if we have forsaken being sold out to the resurrected Jesus and are failing to our both our privilege and authority in the name of Jesus to call down healing from heaven for those who are in need. We just wonder if we have accepted unanswered prayer as a way of life for a totally sold-out believer in Jesus. Has that become our normal when we should be living abnormally.