Acts 28:1-6

Acts 28:1-6
English Standard Version (ESV)

  There's an old saying in football that you're never as bad as people say you are after a loss, and you're never as good as people may say after a big win.  The truth is often somewhere in the middle, and believing the first can lead to despair while the second can lead to an overinflated ego.
  In the same way, Paul escapes from a shipwreck only to have a viper grab hold of his hand.  At the time, the locals assume Paul was a murdered and had some pretty nasty karma working against him.  But it wasn't this bad, but Paul also isn't as good as the god they assume him to be when he survives.  He's in the middle -- a sinner redeemed by the blood of a Savior, redeemed by the Lamb and made whole by the grace of God.
  We, too, are not as bad as the devil tries to tell us we are.  We are not lost and hopeless.  We are not alone or forsaken, and God loves you as you are.  Never give up on yourself, never despair -- we are not beyond the grace of God.
  We are not, however, gods.  We are not perfect, and we must be wary of the sin of pride, of assuming that we are better than we are.  We are still sinners who turn from God and pursue our own will, our own gods, our own interests at the expense of our relationship with God and others.  We have far yet to go, and we are not there yet.
  We are in the middle of a beautiful story -- saved by grace, and yet God is still at work in us.  Believe in God, trust in him, remember from whence we have been saved and the future that lies before us, and cling to our hope in Christ to carry us forward.