A good friend is someone who will stand up for you when others try to knock you down. A true friend will deny every lie, refute every doubt, and reject every curse. A courageous companion will uphold the credibility of one’s true character and choices. In times of uncertainty, a friend in the Lord will testify before others your faith and obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. A friend sticks by you during the transformation process of becoming more and more like Christ, and does not waver when one experiences ups and downs during the maturing process. A friend does not live in fear but holds firmly to the truth of the power of the Holy Spirit to bring full redemption and salvation in and through the life of the follower. Without a doubt, Paul’s faith, life, and writings have had an overwhelming impact on the spread of the gospel. His presentation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ continues to be a model and tool for how the kingdom is taking root today. But let us not forget his good friend Barnabas. When people were afraid of the “new” Christian Paul, Barnabas defended Paul’s confession and conversion to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When the believers feared accepting this persecutor of Christians, Barnabas testified how the Lord transformed him into a preacher of the gospel. “He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord spoke to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:27).

Barnabas was a good friend who stood up for Paul and had assurance in the redemptive work of Christ in Paul’s life. “Praise the Lord for friends in the faith. Thank you for friends who stand with us in our faith, they love us even when we fail and when others have doubts about us. Thank you for friends who do not give up on us during the transformation process of the gospel working through us. Thank you for friends who will rescue us when we get off the right path. May we be as good of a friend as others have been to us.”

AMEN
Bryan Johnston