November 20, 2023 | Miami, Florida, United States | Leonard Johnson, executive secretary, Inter-American Division
In this nugget today, I want to tell you also about Barnabas. Barnabas, as we learned previously, was a good man. He was full of the Holy Spirit. But thirdly, Barnabas was a man of faith. He had faith in his God. He trusted in God. He believed in God. But do you know what? He also had faith in others.
As I told you in the last nugget about having faith in Saul, who would become Paul. But let me tell you of another experience. There was a person by the name of John Mark.
He had accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey, but John Mark became a bit discouraged and decided to call it quits. You don’t do that with the Apostle Paul, but nevertheless, on this occasion he decided that he would go again.
And so we read in Acts the 15th chapter, as I pick up now at verse 36 and some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we are to preach the Word of the Lord. And Barnabas in verse 37 determined to take with him John, whose sir name was Mark, but Paul would not have this.You could see him saying no. Barnabas said yes. Paul says no. Barnabas said Yes. So much so. The Bible says that there was a sharp contention between them and they went their separate ways. Well, this was not a pleasant experience, but once again, you find Barnabas believing in John Mark, even as he believed in Saul years earlier, and he stood up for John Mark. But I don’t want to give you the impression that Saul, who became Paul, was a difficult person because when you read in Colossians Chapter 4 and 2 Timothy Chapter 4, in verse 12 you will see where Paul had a change of heart, a change of mind, and he would right bring John Mark for he is profitable to me for ministry. So this tells us that what may appear to be negative and unpromising with Christ, there is the possibility of a better day, of a better experience, thank God. Paul changed his mind and he saw the potential in John Mark. And you know why this happened? It was all because of Barnabas.
I so today I want to be a Barnabas. Not only a good person, but someone filled with the Holy Spirit and someone who has faith in God and faith in others. It reminds me of the words of the poet Maya Angelou she penned some years ago. People will forget what you said, what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel. And Barnabas made people feel good.Go and do likewise. God bless you.