Be An Encourager!

Friday morning greetings to everyone!  I thought that I’d get any early start on the posting today.  This day is the dawn of a new weekend, with it’s endless possibilities of good things to come!  As a preamble to my beginning to read the Biblical book of Hebrews, I pulled out my NIV Study Bible and read over the background information to the origins of the book, it’s date, writer, theme, literary form and overall outline.  The book of Hebrews is one of the books in the Bible where the author is not identified.  Many theologians attribute the writing to the apostle Paul, while others point out the marked differences between the writing style and emphasis of the book as compared to Paul’s other letters.  I tend to believe that Paul was not the writer, and lean toward the proposed authorship of Barnabas, another leader and scholar in the church in Paul's time..

Barnabas was known as a man of encouragement throughout the church.  He always spoke words that exhorted, consoled, comforted and encouraged those to whom he spoke.  My study bible even goes so far as to say that the book of Hebrews could be called “the book of better things” (NIV) since the Greek words better and superior occur over 15 times in the letter.

My point to all this today, is to encourage you to be an encourager this weekend.  Think about the words you share with others (and even toward yourself) as this day progresses into Saturday and then Sunday.  Take actions toward others that make them know that you care, and that they are special to you. 

Last week my wife and I were standing in line in the supermarket when the customer in front of us discovered that he was a dollar short of the final tally of the items he needed to purchase.  When he told the cashier that he would have to go find his wife to get the extra money, the cashier sighed and looked questionably at the embarrassed customer.  Without thinking too much about it, I reached into my pocket and pulled out four quarters that I just happened to have and handed them to the cashier.  I then glanced over to the befuddled customer and simply told him to have a blessed day.  He just stared at me with a confused look, mumbled a quick thank you and left.  It all happened so fast that the impact of it didn’t hit me until we left the store.  What I discovered was that it felt good to be able to be an encouragement in that situation.  It may have only been a dollar, but from the look on that man’s face, I know that he will think about it for some time to come.

Be a source of encouragement in the lives of those present in the various events in your life this weekend.  It will not only be good for them, but also for you!  Have a great weekend.  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself…”What am I expecting today?”