51 So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
Sometimes you just have to shake off the dust and move on. Some circumstances in life don’t turn out the way you want them to turn out. Sometimes just plain nasty things happen to you, mean and honoree things, and you have to be able to move beyond them. If you don’t, you get stuck in anger or bitterness. Paul and Barnabas have been preaching and there have been great results. But there has also been great opposition in that area, so much so, that they get thrown out of that part of the country. Now they could take it personally and take it as a sign that God is not at work in them, but they don’t. Instead, they shake the dust off their feet. I love this expression. We need to shake the remnants of difficulty from our lives so that we don’t carry the negatives of the past forward. We can learn the lessons, but let go of the dust. Remember, these are days before paved roads. The only paved roads were those constructed by Rome. We had the privilege of walking on some of them in Pompey earlier this year. You could still see the chariot wheel ruts in these large stone roads. Every other road in the ancient world was dirt. And in a hot desert climate the dust would invade your feet and lower garments. It might take some shaking to rid yourself of the dust. The same is true for us today. Sometimes the leftovers of negative circumstances can be difficult to ‘shake off,’ but we must be able to move on without taking the dust with us. Are you carrying any ‘dust’ from past hurts or conversations? Maybe today is the day to shake off some dust.
The Arnold Journey 