‘The memory of the righteous is blessed.’
Proverbs 10:7 NKJV The Bible calls Barnabas ‘a good man…full of…faith’ (Acts 11:24) although, unlike Paul, he never did the kinds of things that made him stand out. He’s mentioned only three times in the book of Acts: 1) selling his land to help finance God’s works b) ouching for Paul’s character c) giving John Mark a second chance. Barnabas didn’t earn many titles, but he earned a pile of testimonies! The Bible says: ‘The memory of the righteous is blessed’ because in God’s eyes it’s not what society considers important that counts. During recognition day for college graduates a pastor stood up and said: ‘You don’t think it now, but eventually you’re going to die. When they lay you in the grave, are people going to stand around reciting the titles you earned, or talking about what a blessing you were? Will you leave an obituary about how “important” you were, or about people grieving the loss of the best friend they ever had? Titles are good, but if it comes down to a choice between a title and a testimony; go for the testimony! Pharaoh had the title, Moses had the testimony. Nebuchadnezzar had the title, Daniel had the testimony. Jezebel had the title, Elijah had the testimony. Pilate had the title, but Jesus had the testimony. It’s easy to think write-ups in Who’s Who are the most important thing, but it’s the loving acts you do that’ll be remembered.’ The song goes ‘only one life, ’twill soon be past…only what’s done for Christ will last!’