Acts 9:27

New International Version (NIV)

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.

For meditation

Everybody needs somebody to lend them a helping hand sometime in life. Everybody needs an encouraging arm around them at some point in life. Everybody needs an opportunity to prove themselves along the path of life. It is all because we are never an Island to ourselves. We are relational beings in need of one another through life’s journey. When we think we have it all or can do it alone, we lose it. Even the great Apostle Paul needed a hand to lean on many times in his life. Imagine the day he wanted to join the disciples in Jerusalem but was rejected (Acts 9:26). Can you imagine how he might have felt then? The coldest time in a person’s life is when nobody wants you anywhere near them. It is lonely. It is terrifying. So, imagine the time Barnabas came around, held Paul’s hand before the disciples and said in effect, “I vouch for this man. He was once our greatest nemesis; but he is one of us now” (27).

1. Can you sense Paul’s relief at that time? Can you imagine his joy?
2. What is life when nobody believes in us? What is our Christianity when everybody doubts our sincerity?
3. But how refreshing it is when a credible witness steps forward on our behalf, as Barnabas did for Paul! Like a cool breeze on a sun-scotched day was Barnabas’ testimony on Paul’s behalf.
4. Do you see why we need one another’s support at critical times? Can we open our eyes to see the person by our side that may need our intervention to open an opportunity to them? Is it possible for us to come around someone who could use our warmth today?
5. Is it not godly to step in on their behalf before their talents and gifts go wasted because of the ugliness of their past? Can you imagine the church without Paul’s missionary work and writings? In that light, don’t you think we may be harming the church by holding people’s past against them instead of embracing their current reality?

I pray we will always remember how one day, Jesus will hold our hands before the Father to testify on our behalf saying, “I vouch for these ones you gave to me, Father. They were sinners before my sacrifice on Calvary, but now they are bought and cleansed by my blood and brought into our family. I present them to you today, ‘a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27)’, just as you have always wanted them to be.”

So: May you be a Barnabas to somebody who needs encouragement and opportunity today; and may the Lord bring to your way, a Barnabas who will stand with you when all others have deserted you.

When we are down and rejected, we could use an encouraging word or hand to lift us before God and people, so we can fulfill our purpose in Christ.

Shalom