Daily EncouragementSample

Barnabas is a delightful character. Howard Marshall points out that “no other man is described by Luke as ‘good’ in Acts.” The apostles knew what they were doing when, in preference to his own name, Joseph, they called him “Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36). No son ever had a better mother, or was more like her! Whenever we meet him, he is dispensing encouragement. The first mention of him says that he was encouraging the work of the Lord with his gifts (Acts 4:36-37). When Paul had difficulty being accepted by the disciples at Jerusalem in the early days, it was Barnabas who “took him and brought him to the apostles” (Acts 9:27). It was Barnabas who the church at Jerusalem sent to Antioch to see what was happening, as the gospel spread to the Gentiles. We read that he was glad at what he saw and “encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (Act 11:23). Later on we see him encouraging John Mark (Acts 15:37). In today’s passage we see him going to find Saul, soon to be called Paul in Luke’s record. To see that a work calls for someone more gifted than oneself, to recognize the man of God’s choice and to encourage him into the work - this is the ministry of encouragement at its best.