Happy Philemon and Onesimus Day! February 15 is their day on the Church Year calendar. Perhaps you can eat a left over chocolate in their honor!
In his letter to Philemon, Paul encourages him to receive back his runaway slave, Onesimus, now a Christian. Using a play on the name Onesimus, which means “useful,” Paul writes, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me” (11).
As I read this little book this morning, I thought about the comments I often hear during Q&A sessions after an end-of-life presentation. People talk about “Uncle Ralph” who no longer has a “quality” life. I never hear anyone call Uncle Ralph useless, but that “quality of life” phrase gets close. We talk about what people can no longer do that they used to do. إلعب واربح We say things like, “He would never want to live like that.”
Our problem? We want to be like God. (Sound familiar?) We want to define useless and useful according to our way of thinking. We have this mistaken notion that God thinks like we think. تنزيل العاب اندرويد But God is pretty clear about how far our thoughts are from His thoughts (Isaiah 55:8)! God worked in Onesimus and made him true to his name. God works in Uncle Ralph regardless of his condition, and makes him useful. As long as God gives life, He gives usefulness to that life.
What use was there in a condemned, beaten, bleeding, and dying man nailed to a tree? 1xbet arabic In human thinking—useless. But God’s Holy Spirit informs our thinking, and we see the eternal usefulness of our crucified Savior. May we use that same God-given thinking when we look upon those who seem “useless” in our eyes.
Now, go call someone “Onesimus,” because they are!