Wednesday
Read Philemon 1-21
1 From Paul, a prisoner for the sake
of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy—
To our friend and fellow-worker Philemon,
2and the church that meets in your house, and our sister Apphia, and
our fellow-soldier Archippus:
3 May God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
4 Brother Philemon, every time I
pray, I mention you and give thanks to my God. 5For I hear of your
love for all God’s people and the faith you have in the Lord Jesus. 6My
prayer is that our fellowship with you as believers will bring about a deeper
understanding of every blessing which we have in our life in union with Christ.
7Your love, dear brother, has brought me great joy and much
encouragement! You have cheered the hearts of all God’s people.
8 For this reason I could be bold
enough, as your brother in Christ, to order you to do what should be done. 9But
because I love you, I make a request instead. I do this even though I am Paul,
the ambassador of Christ Jesus, and at present also a prisoner for his sake.a
10So I make a request to you on behalf of Onesimus, who is my own
son in Christ; for while in prison I have become his spiritual father. 11At
one time he was of no use to you, but now he is usefulb both to you
and to me.
12 I am sending him back to you now,
and with him goes my heart. 13I would like to keep him here with me,
while I am in prison for the gospel’s sake, so that he could help me in your
place. 14However, I do not want to force you to help me; rather, I
would like you to do it of your own free will. So I will not do anything unless
you agree.
15 It may be that Onesimus was away
from you for a short time so that you might have him back for all time. 16And
now he is not just a slave, but much more than a slave: he is a dear brother in
Christ. How much he means to me! And how much more he will mean to you, both as
a slave and as a brother in the Lord!
17 So, if you think of me as your
partner, welcome him back just as you would welcome me. 18If he has
done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to my account. 19Here,
I will write this with my own hand: I, Paul, will pay you back. (I should not
have to remind you, of course, that you owe your very self to me.) 20So,
my brother, please do me this favour for the Lord’s sake; as a brother in
Christ, cheer me up!
21 I am sure, as I write this, that
you will do what I ask—in fact I know that you will do even more.
Think
"And now he is not just a slave, but much more than a slave: he is a
dear brother in Christ." - Philemon 16
Paul writes to Philemon to ask him to set his slave, Onesimus free. The earliest church was a meeting of slaves
and free people. Jesus makes us all
equal.
Pray
Lord teach me to have the right amount of pride to realise that I am a
'somebody' when I feel like a nobody.
And Lord teach me to have the humility to never think that I am more of
a somebody than any body else.
No comments:
Post a Comment