 We all need a Barnabas and a Timothy!
Everybody needs these two people in their life at all times, a Barnabas and a Timothy. In order for us to understand this we have to know who these two people are. Barnabas was a partner and friend to the Apostle Paul in ministry. They spent a lot of time with each other traveling and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. But most importantly what we know from the Bible is that Barnabas was an encourager (For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas which means “Son of Encouragement”. He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus Acts 4:36). In that day it was very common for someone to have a name change; however, it was not for the same reasons that we do it today. For example, Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals changing his name to Chad Ocho Cinco would not qualify as being the same thing. In those days they would change their names in order to fit their character. So just think about that, what would you be called (or maybe you would rather not think about that). So Barnabas name meant son of encouragement, what does it mean to be an encourager? To be an encourager, it simply means to give courage to someone else. Webster defines Courage like this; the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery. Here is another one I like this one; have the courage of one's convictions, to act in accordance with one's beliefs, especially in spite of criticism. So Barnabas was a guy that would encourage people to do these things. To stand strong with bravery in the face of pain or adversity, or give courage to act on what we read in scripture and live a life modeling the Gospel message. I don’t know about you, but we all need those types of people in our lives. I have many Barnabas in my life, but I must be intentional about finding these Timothy’s. Timothy was a young guy in ministry and Paul was kind of his mentor, someone that he actually encouraged. We see Paul doing that here in 1 Timothy 4:12 he says “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity”. We all have those people in our life that encourage us; however, just as Paul says it works both ways we are encouraged in order to be an encouragement to others. “I'm eager to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. In this way, each of us will be a blessing to the other” Romans 1:12. We all need both these people in our lives at all times a Barnabas and a Timothy. God bless have a great day. Mitchell
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |