The beloved physician Luke wrote how he, Paul, and others with him were sailing toward Rome, “and they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land. And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold”, and in chapter twenty-eight and verse three of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on” Paul's “hand” where we read:
And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire,
there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
The verse begins, “And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, ...” Luke began with the words, “and when Paul” which means “and at the time and moment Paul whose name means small or little” “had gathered a bundle of sticks” or “collected, combined and rolled together a number of dry sticks, twigs, straw or stubble”, “and laid them on the fire” which means “and put or placed the bundle of sticks upon the burning fire”. Luke shared how “Paul” collected and assembled a number of dry twigs and placed them upon the fire when the following occurred.
The verse goes on to say, “... there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.” Luke continued with the words, “there came a viper” which means “there arose and appeared an adder or other poisonous snake” “out of the heat” or “away from the warmth of the fire”, “and fastened on his hand” which means “and seized, lay hold of and bound itself upon Paul's physical hand”. Luke shared how a poisonous snake arose out of the fire and bound itself to “Paul's” hand.
When we mediate upon Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Paul” attempted to help keep the fire burning that the people on the island made for him and the others on the ship. When he collected a number of dry sticks and placed them on the fire, a poisonous snake arose out of the heat and clung to “Paul's” hand. We can imagine the excitement this caused among him and the other people who saw this, but let us remember, God promised “Paul” that he would go to “Rome” to share the gospel. There was no storm, breaking up of a ship or poisonous snake that would prevent Him from sharing God's forgiveness of sins and granting everlasting life to everyone who believes and trusts in His Son Jesus, and those who are wise will see this “snake biting” as another step in “Paul's” progress toward sharing the greatest news in the world with everyone who will hear the message of God.
Next time Luke shares, “when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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