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Oh, what confusion! That chaos and confusion of the scene definitely comes across in the tapestry design. Because God worked a miracle through Paul, the people mistook him and Barnabas for two of their false gods and sought to make sacrifices to them. These godly men, however, desperately tried to stop this from happening, for they knew that only God is worthy of worship and this kind of elevation. We are only messengers of this good news. We are all humble recipients of undeserved grace. The response of Paul and Barnabas vehemently opposing this reaction from the people shows that they had the glory of God as their top priority. May we, in all that we do today, point to the one true God. May our lives point others to Him and not to ourselves.
A few months ago, a friend and I were at a Christmas market, and we were ordering some hot chocolate from a man at a stand. Since my friend and I were speaking English together, he asked us where we were from, and I told him that we were from the United States. This started a conversation, and he later noted that we were both so nice and how that was rare for him to see nowadays. We could have just said thanks and went on our way, but I saw it as an open door. I began to tell the man that this was because we are Christians and we worship the most kind and loving God, so we want to model our lives after Him. Now, he wasn't mistaking us for gods or anything, but we still wanted to use the situation to point Him to the Lord! We had a great conversation, and I was able to invite him to church. The next time that someone gives you a compliment, try using it as a door-opener to point the other person to the Lord!
The apostles told the people of Lystra to "turn from these vain things to a living God". How apt the human heart is to worship the creation rather than the Creator or seek to worship the creations of our own minds–false gods or a false image of who the true God really is. All of this is vain. None of these things can offer us forgiveness or salvation, nor can they offer us the peace, hope and purpose that the Lord provides. Only the Lord can save. Only the Lord is worthy of sacrifice and worship. We are messengers and ambassadors, representing the Lord Jesus on earth and pointing others to Him through our actions.
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