Acts 14

In the first few verses, it talks about how Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Iconium when both Gentiles and Jews plotted to "mistreat" them. (I wonder if they were plotting together or if both groups were plotting independently?) So, they fled to Lystra, but "continued to preach the gospel" (Acts 14:7). Such a testimony to the conviction with which they believed their own message, that it was worth risking their lives for!

In Lystra, Paul healed a crippled man and the people of the city thought they must be gods come down in human form. They tried making sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas, even when they swore that they, too, were only men. Their message was clear: "we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them" (Acts 14:15). They went on to say that in the past God let them go their own way, but he never left himself without witness: he gave them rains and fruitful harvests to satisfy their hearts. Just makes me think about all the good gifts God has given me and how often I take them for granted, treasuring the gifts above the Giver. And I wonder what "vain things" I'm chasing after now instead of pursuing my God wholeheartedly...

They traveled a bit more, "strengthening the souls of the disciples [and] encouraging them to continue in the faith" (Acts 14:22), and eventually made it back to Antioch, "where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled" (Acts 14:26). They reported what God had done through them and spent some time with the disciples there. It must have been so nice for them to be "home" with the disciples there and share all they had seen!