Philemon 19-24 Devotional1

1 Comment

1. admin says:

   August 11, 2009 at 11:01 am

   Devotional Sharing, Submitted by John Lin

   I wanted to share some thoughts from this week’s DT in Philemon, which
   is one of Paul’s shortest letters, yet so personal and heartfelt. I
   thought about the different characters being talked about here, Paul,
   Philemon, and Onesimus. They were very different people as
   yesterday’s DT question asked. In their past, Paul was well-educated,
   a Pharisee, and hated Christians and freely persecuted them. Philemon
   was a wealthy Greek landowner living in Colosse, and didn’t know God.
   Onesimus was a domestic slave who belonged to Philemon, also without
   Christ. But through God’s grace and mercy, each of them came to
   repent of their sins and personally encounter God: Paul on the road
   to Damascus in Acts 9, Philemon came to know God through Paul’s
   ministry, and Onesimus was a runaway slave who also was converted by
   Paul while in prison. But these men of God didn’t just stop there.
   They each became useful to God (Philemon 1:11) in different ways.
   Paul was transformed by God from a persecutor of Christians to a
   preacher to the nations, especially Gentiles. Onesimus was
   transformed from a slave into a servant of God that was so useful and
   like a spiritual son to Paul. And Philemon welcomed the church of
   Colosse to meet in his home and refreshed their hearts, and now is in
   the process of considering Paul’s letter to welcome back Onesimus as a
   brother. Though we don’t have the final word on how Philemon
   responded, it’s believed that the fact this letter survived and
   circulated gives a strong indication that he did forgive Onesimus and
   welcomed him as a new brother in Christ.

   Two simple lessons: the first is that despite how privileged or
   difficult our background growing up was, or how much or little we had,
   our story now is that we are sinners in need of God’s grace. That is
   the common story we share, and it’s something we need to be reminded
   of again and again as it describes where we have come from. The
   second lesson is that we too should become useful people who can bring
   God’s message to others. This can happen through our verbal testimony
   as Paul shared the gospel with many and impacted them. It also
   happens through our actions, such as forgiving those who might have
   wronged us and being willing to let go of past hurts, which is what
   Paul exhorts Philemon to do. And finally it happens through our
   service to God, as we see in Onesimus’ life as a new believer. These
   are such important reminders of the basic truth that should keep on
   guiding how we live each day.