When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad,
he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
…And a great many people were added to the Lord.’
Acts 11.23-24
Even before this, in verse 22, the report came to the ears of the church. It was on hearing a report of good news, that they sought to see. At this point they could have gone with critical eyes and a faithless heart, but it was not so with Barnabas.
Barnabas saw with good eyes, lived from a heart of faith, and his mouth was a fountain of fresh water.
There is a connection here of 1. beholding, 2. believing, and 3. blessing / proclaiming. If our eyes are good then the whole being is filled with light, and out of the abundance of the center-most heart the mouth speaks. But it is the Holy Spirit working in us to weave this organic system into a whole: the eyes-mouth relationship via the heart; the words of life and truth bearing the fruits of faith and gladness in other lives because of its perfect operation.
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