A Lesser Known Person 5

1. Our Job is to Invest our Lives

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” - 2 Timothy 2:2

• There’s four generations of Believers mentioned here.
  • Paul (“the things you have heard me say”)
  • Timothy (“the things you have heard me say”)
  • Reliable men (“… entrust to reliable men”)
  • Others (“… who will be qualified to teach others”)

• Paul is telling Timothy to take the things he’s heard from himself and tell them to people who will tell others also.
• It is in our job as Christians to invest our lives into others, just as Barnabas did with Paul and Mark, and Paul did with Timothy.

2. Barnabas Wasn’t Anyone Special

“He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” – Acts 11:24

• Was Barnabas anyone more special than you or me? No.  He was just a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.  We all are called to be that way.
• Was Barnabas one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, or did he do any amazing miracles as far as we know?
• He just loved God and wanted to bring His message to the world.

3. Investing in Others is the Biblical Pattern

• Jesus invested His life in His twelve disciples (John 17:6-8).
• Paul invested in the churches of Ephesus (Acts 20:31) and Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:16).
• Elijah invested in Elisha (1 Kings 19:21).

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Mathew 28:19-20 

• Matthew 28:16-20 is the Great Commission of Jesus to the church.  It’s our job and our reason to exist – to reach the world and make disciples, to invest our lives into those around us.
• Barnabas chose to live a fruitful life for God.  He saw something in Paul.  He saw something in Mark.  And he chose to give of himself to them, helping them become the great men of God that we know them as.
• How different do you think the world would have been if Barnabas had ignored Paul in Jerusalem?  How about if he had given up on Mark? 
• We may never know for sure, but we should all be glad Barnabas took the time to invest into their lives.

Have a great day investing in other peoples lives.

John

This entry was posted on 17/08/2009 at 06:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.