Daily Devotional for Wednesday, February 22nd

The Lame Man in Lystra

“The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had
faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet.
And he leaped and walked,” Acts 14:9, 10.

We have all heard the expression, “Do not kill the messenger.” Someone brings a message that others do not like and, instead of discussing the message, they just attempt to eradicate the messenger. I suppose we think that will make a message we do not agree with go away. Other times, people might completely misunderstand what the messenger is saying in the first place, and assign meaning to the message
that was never meant! What are we to do?
In Iconium, the citizens became so angry they wanted to stone Paul. Fleeing to Lystra and Derbe, Paul healed the lame man. These citizens,
instead of stoning Paul, wanted to worship him. What a change, Paul must have wondered what was going on. What did Paul do? Paul did what Paul always did. He got right back on the message that he had been given to tell. This message was the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.
First, Paul did not let the ones trying to kill him hinder his work. In this case, he just moved on. Sometimes, this is all we can do as well. Later, Paul was quick to make people understand that he had done nothing. This lame man was not healed by Paul, but by God. Paul was clear that he deserved no credit and was not God!
There are those who will always try to make it about us. They may react badly to the message, or they may elevate us to a position we do not deserve. Just like Paul, we have to be careful how we react. We have to always turn the conversation away from us, and toward Jesus Christ.

JUST A THOUGHT
When people want to put the attention on us, good or bad, we must always
redirect the attention to the One who matters, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Wally Fry