The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Acts 28:1-6, “And when they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. 2And the natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all.

3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 And when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, ‘Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’

5 However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.”

Is it possible to be an intellectual wizard and do common labor? Paul would say, “Yes.”

I’ve always been amazed at Paul’s humility. The former murderer, now chief Apostle of

the LORD Jesus Christ, picked up stick for a fire! Lesson: never be too big to engage

in menial tasks. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Learn to do menial labor alongside

others, and as Kipling said, It’s alright to walk with kings, as long as you never lose the

“common touch” (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46473/if—).

Once again Paul experienced the fickleness of men. I say “again” because back in

Acts 14, at Lystra, Paul healed a man and the locals hailed him as a god. When he

protested that he was just a man like they were, the stoned him and left him for dead.

Now, while the natives of the Island of Malta were kind and helpful, they were obviously

captives of superstition. As a snake emerged from the sticks and embedded itself in

Paul’s hand, the natives assumed that Paul was a murderer and that “justice” had

caught up with him. But when the snake’s venom had no effect on Paul, they changed

their minds and decided he was a god. Lesson: unbelieving people will often assume

the worst about you. Try as we will, we have to leave the changing of their minds to the

LORD. Paul just continued being himself and made no appreciable effort to change their

thinking. The LORD did that in His own way and in His own time.

We love each of you immensely! And we pray for you every day!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”