Sacrifice to Stoning - The Fickle Nature of Man's Approval
Paul and Barnabus had just come to Lystra. It was a major stop on their missions journey.
Upon entering the city they noticed a man with a deformity. It was clear that there was something wrong with his feet. Maybe he had been in an accident.
"What happened to him?" Paul asked one of the men standing by.
"He has been like that from birth. Every day he sits and begs."
Paul and Barnabas began preaching the gospel and while they were doing this the Holy Spirit gave them the power to perform miraculous signs.
The people began to worship Paul and Barnabas. They thought that they were gods.
Immediately, Paul and Barnabas tried to stop the crowd.
"We are merely humans like you," they proclaimed.
There were a few people in the crowd who knew of Paul and Barnabas and the message that they preached. They did not like it. Their preaching was a threat and it went against what they had been taught their whole life.
These people stirred up the crowd against them and suddenly, the crowd who a few moments ago was worshiping Paul and Barnabas was now taking them outside the city to stone them.
What is the moral behind this story?
Seeking mans approval is fickle.
If you live your life on the whims of praise or criticism you will be miserable.
Be confident in who you are and who God made you to be.
Love people, but don't be held captive by what they think of you.
Man's approval is fickle.
God's approval is sure.
