joining the grace of God

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose…

Acts 11:23

Barnabus was a natural born encourager. When the apostles heard that Greek speaking Jews had come to Jesus in the city of Antioch, they sent Barnabus there to check out the situation. What he saw was the “grace of God”. I love that description! Looking at this new, young church, the grace of God stared back at Barnabus in their faces. This was a moment of gospel clarity. And the giftedness of Barnabus immediately kicked in.

What do we do when we see the grace of God in new believers? We respond with mutual ministry. Barnabus urged that fledgling church to stay strong. And then he booked passage to Tarsus to retrieve Saul because he knew that God would use him to help build this new congregation. And together Saul and Barnabus invested a year in building up, maturing, teaching, and making disciples in the church that was in Antioch.

My simple observation and application is this: I will invest my life in “the grace of God” when I live primarily to makes disciples. The most important work I can do is this. And I know it takes time. All said and done, Barnabus could have spent nearly two years on the Antioch disciple-making mission. He traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. He spent some time there initially to get the most crucial discipleship commitments established. He probably spent as much as four to six months journeying to Tarsus to track down Saul, depending on the time of year and the weather conditions on the Mediterranean at that time. He then had to recruit Saul and bring him back to the new church. And then there was a year of intensive disciple-making and leadership development. Joining “the grace of God” takes serious commitment, but it is well worth the kingdom advancement!