Faith With Purpose: Shaking Off The Serpent

“And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.” Acts 28:5

After surviving a little over two weeks of being tossed to and fro at sea Paul arrives upon the island of Melita. The first thing they do is gather some sticks so they can build a fire to warm and dry themselves. As the sticks were being piled up, a snake comes out and latches on to Paul’s hand. The natives of the island were expecting him to die, but after several days he showed no signs of sickness or death and then they begin to proclaim him as a god. Once the serpent bit him, Paul did not give it the chance to inflict much of its poison…he just shook it off!

The Bible refers to the devil as “That old serpent.” (Revelation 12:9) Satan brought the downfall of man by using the serpent, the most cunning of all beast, to entice and deceive Eve by eating the forbidden fruit, who in turn gave to her husband and he did eat. The result of this is that Satan inflicted the deadly poison of sin into the soul of man and it runs through every human heart born upon this earth. This brought death both to the spiritual, then eventually to physical man and death reigned from Adam to Moses. When Jesus came and died on the cross he “Destroyed the works of the devil and overcame him who had power over death. (1John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14) Now, because of the work of the cross, “Sin has no dominion over the believer in Christ.” (Romans 6:14)

Are we sinless? Are we perfect? Of course not, but also sin doesn’t have its power over us because of the Holy Spirit abiding within us. Just like Paul when he did not die from the bite, we too do not die every time we sin, not because we are God, like the natives believed that Paul was to be, but because of God in us that sustains our eternal life for us, having taken the penalty of death upon his Son, Jesus Christ. So what do we do when we sin? We shake it off! We don’t allow that sin to latch on and continue in us, eventually dominating over us.

To shake off sin means that we acknowledge, confess, and turn from it. It also means to not allow the guilt of it to continue to dominate our minds. Just as Paul never saw the snake until it bit him, sometimes we are caught off guard and sin against the Lord or others through commission or omission.

Paul’s faith in Christ not only got him through the storm, but also too through this incident with the serpent. It also provided an opportunity for witness to the Publius, who lay sick of a fever and was healed by the laying on of hands by Paul. The message of the Gospel is not only that Christ has healed us from sin, but also has equipped us with the message and opportunity to bring healing to others who are sin sick. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we overcome many sins and storms in life, which put us in a place to witness and testify of him to others. It reminds me of the last words of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. Read these words and pray that God will use you to fulfill his purposes in your life.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Mark 16:15-18

Pastor Robby