Barnabas Had It Right

March 25, 2015 | By Chuck

The apostles called him Barnabas, "which means Son of Encouragement". (Acts 4:36) The cool thing about his name has nothing to do with how it sounds or rolls off the tongue, but the fact that he, Barnabas, lived up to his name. The apostles gave this Levite from Cyprus named Joseph the nickname Barnabas because he lived the name. Barnabas was a gifted encourager and therefore named for it. If a man's gift "is encouraging, let him encourage."(Rom.12:8) Barnabas took John Mark with him on the second missionary journey after a sharp disagreement with Paul because John Mark had deserted them on the first journey.(Acts 15:36-39) Barnabas was such an encourager that he believed in second chances. As Christians striving to live faithful lives to God and survive the continual attacks of Satan, we need encouragement. We have an enemy that so desperately wants us to be discouraged in our spiritual lives in hopes that we'll give up on God. It seems one of us is always dealing grief from the loss of a loved one, a hurting marriage or financial woes. None of us are exempt from problems like these and none of us are exempt from the need for encouragement. As I hear the encouraging words from so many each Sunday, please know that those words mean so much and fill my heart. I've read countless encouraging remarks on Facebook and they are always appreciated and never overlooked or taken for granted. Encouragement is a gift that we should all give and a need that we all must have fulfilled. Barnabas had it right!