My Boy Barnabas

Son of Encouragement

Encouragement, from time to time I sure could use a dose or two of it. Well let me introduce you to the man in scripture known as the son of it! My boy, Barnabas.

Barnabas doesn’t get very much press in the New Testament. He shows up in only 33 verses, but in those few verses, you get a pretty good picture about who he was in the body of Christ, one who is selfless when faced with the Gospel.

So, what can we learn from this cousin of John Mark? He’s of the tribe of Levi, from the island of Cyprus, and at one point he sold one of his fields and gave the proceeds to the apostles.
He’s no poor schlub, but a pretty well off guy with a solid Jewish heritage. Yet, he heard the proclamation of the Gospel of the Crucified and Risen Christ, and understood the importance of proclaiming that Gospel to the ends of the earth.

He was sent by the Jerusalem church to Antioch to keep the fledgling church there humming along. Eventually, he set off with Paul on his first missionary journey as his right hand man.

His name, “Barnabas”, means “son of encouragement.” It’s a rather appropriate name for one who would serve not as a proclaimer, but as one who accompanied and encouraged one of the greatest proclaimers of all on his Gospel missions.

Thank God that not everyone He calls is a preacher! Every Barnabas that pops up in the church is indeed a treasure. As Paul said, the Body of Christ needs more than mouths. It needs the hands and arms and hearts of the Barnabases of the world, too.

If not for someone in my life like Barnabas, I know I would have given up on my dream long ago. Why? Because life is hard. It's easy to give up especially when it's God that has called you to do something. It's like even more things come to get in the way. We all could use a Barnabas or two and I'm sure we know someone we could be like Barnabas for. Think about that. God Bless.

Carlos