Why is that man gathering sticks in the pouring rain? Why doesn’t he just stay at home with a roof over his head? The truth is, he has no home. He is soaking wet and cold, and he is not a very young man either.
This man came to that island shore in a ship, but the ship was wrecked and battered in a storm and broken up by the violence of the waves. Maybe he swam to shore or maybe he floated on a broken piece of the ship. But now he is safe, and all the others from the shipwreck have reached the shore safely too.
The island they reached was Malta. None of those from the ship were sure if they would be welcomed or if they would be considered enemies. However, people from the island came down to the shore to help them, so that was a good sign.
The islanders knew how to build a big, roaring bonfire, even in the rain. This man searching for sticks was going to add them to the fire, so they all could dry out and warm up. It was a chilly, wet, winter day.
The man gathering sticks was the Apostle Paul, and he was a prisoner on his way to Rome. A centurion guard was with him all the time. That was his job.
Paul shook his bundle of sticks onto the fire. But ... what’s this? A poisonous snake that had been hiding in the bundle came out and bit him on the hand and hung on! The islanders assumed this was a sign that he must be a bad man. Even if he escaped from drowning, they thought the snake bite would kill him. They watched him closely.
Yes, Paul had been a bad man. He was a sinner who had been very much against God and had tried to get rid of all the Christians. But God had a special plan for Paul’s life. He stopped him in his tracks in such a way that Paul realized he was sinning against Jesus, and he was willing to give up his sinful life to follow Him. Paul met Jesus that day, and his life was turned around!
Have you met Jesus? Have you let Him turn your life around? Jesus suffered and died on the cross, shedding His precious blood to wash sinners clean from their sins. Have you told Jesus that you are a sinner and need Him? He does not save everyone, only because there are many who refuse to trust Him, but He is ready to save you right now. Will you trust Him?
Paul did not die from the snake bite. He shook the snake off into the fire, and the islanders saw that he was as healthy as ever. He must be a god, they said, but they were wrong again. Paul was a saved sinner, and you can be too. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)).
The islanders had a chief man named Publius, and he kept all the shipwrecked crew and passengers in his house for three days, treating them kindly. For three months they stayed on the island, until a sailing ship came by and took them to Italy. It was a long voyage, and from the seaport, Paul and the centurion guard walked to Rome and to prison.
You may read this story for yourself in Acts 28.
ML-06/29/2014