Crowds Change So Quickly!

Leviticus 4; Leviticus 5; Leviticus 6; Acts 14

Scripture

In Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:8-20

8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.



Observation

Paul and Barnabas were at the point of being worshipped as gods one minute and a few minutes later Paul was stoned and left for dead. It was the same crowd. It reminds me of the crowd that cried out “Hosanna! Hosanna! Glory to God in the highest” and then some of the same crowd watched as Jesus was nailed to the cross. So we shouldn’t depend on what the crowd says or does. We should work and serve an audience of One and if we serve Him with all of our hearts then it doesn’t matter what the crowd thinks or does.

Application

Am I pleasing my Lord and Savior with my behavior and my attitudes?


Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to look to you and not to people for approval. Help me to do the right thing even if doing the right thing is difficult and costly. Guide me and guard my heart. Help me not to sin against you.



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