Below are my thoughts from the daily
Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Acts
11 & 12. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you
as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading
plan.
 |
| Photo Credit: Kieran Connellan |
I am in love with an Indie Rock Band Walk Off The Earth from Burlington, Ontario,
Canada. They are incredibly talented group of musicians and vocalist. They are
well known for their YouTube videos covering some of the most popular music of
today’s current artists. Their video covers often take a song to an amazing new
level. I am blown away by the talent God has blessed them with. Their most recent
release was one of the members of the group along with two friends covering
Miley Cyrus’ newest song Wrecking Ball.
I am not a Miley fan, did not even care for the song until I listened to this
cover. The pain and emotion displayed in this song is just amazing from these
three ladies.
Through their emotion I am reminded
that there are so many people in our world whose lives have been confronted by
the proverbial wrecking ball. Maybe it was their marriage. Maybe it was their
finances. Maybe it is currently a relationship with family members. Maybe it is
a job situation. Maybe it is legal trouble. Maybe it is some kind of consequence
to sinful choices. As Christians how should we respond when people come to us
in the midst of the wrecking ball experience of life?
In our reading today we encountered a
man named Barnabas. Barnabas was not his real name, only his nickname. Barnabas
means Son of Encouragement (Acts 4:36). The early church has nicknamed this man
by his dominate characteristic. So as the church grew, and people outside the
Jewish community started becoming Christians, it is obvious to send the
encourager to these new Christians.
We can be confident that these people
who were coming to Christ were certainly people who knew the wrecking ball of
life. They were people who more than likely worshiped the god’s of the day, not
the one true God. But soon they began worshiping the one true God and accepting
Jesus as Lord. Barnabas goes and is excited to see God working. It is here that
he begins encouraging … “When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God,
he was glad and encouraged them to remain true to the Lord with all their
hearts.” (Acts 11:23 NIV) From Barnabas we can learn a valuable lesson.
When people in our church, in our
lives, in our communities encounter the wrecking ball, often what they need
most is a little bit of Barnabas. They need encouragement. They need to be
uplifted. Let me encourage you to face the wrecking ball with encouragement to
remain faithful!
No comments:
Post a Comment