People Watch You
To read the Bible in a year, read Acts 28:1-15.
After the ship wrecked on which Paul and his friends were traveling to Rome, the people of Malta, the island where they swam to, showed great kindness to the survivors ( Acts 28:1, 2). Paul did not sit down and expect everything to be done for him (the centurion may have made Paul work), but he gathered wood for fire, and then a viper attached to a stick, leapt off the wood and bit Paul, staying attached to him ( Acts 28:3). Look what the rescuers concluded, "So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, 'No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live'" ( Acts 28:4). However, Paul shook off the creature and nothing happened to him ( Acts 28:5-6). When nothing happened to Paul, they changed their opinion 180& ordm; and concluded he was a god!
Listen to people switch their opinions. It can go the other way also. They can conclude someone is a god and then decide he is a criminal. Therefore, do not let their criticisms destroy you and do not swallow their compliments, for later they may reverse their minds.