Inside Out

Coming near to the end of the book of Philemon we see that Paul is actually a picture of Jesus Christ in the story. In verses 18 & 19 Paul continues in his letter to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, the slave that stole from him and then ran away. In these verses Paul writes to Philemon to tell him that anything that Onesimus owes him to charge it to Paul. He writes that he will indeed pay Philemon personally and without ever having a thought of either him or Onesimus owing him anything in return. WOW! There is a whole to be said of a person that will write a letter of recommendation for another person because they are essentially putting their name on the individual and their abilities. It is something completely different when someone believes in or loves and individual so much that they assume their debts and pay them on their behalf. That is exactly what Paul did for Onesimus. He considered Onesimus family now and treated him like a son. He loved him so much that he wanted to make sure that he had a fresh start in the family so he offered to pay any debts that he owed to his master Philemon.

I said that Paul in these verses in particular looks like Jesus because that is exactly what He did for us. God loved us so much and wanted communion with us that He sent His only Son to reconcile us back to Him through Jesus’ death and resurrection. How many of us are able to say that, even in our walk with Christ now, we would do the same thing Paul has done? Paul acted like Jesus in this particular situation; he acted like God would have responded to the situation. He did this for one simple reason—he had God in him. I would venture to say that at this point in his ministry Paul had more God in him that he had himself.

Mercy is a hard to gift to practice if you weren’t born with it. It is not a hard gift to learn however since we all have been extended mercy when we accepted Christ. When we sit and think about it, who are we to withhold mercy from one when we have benefited from it? Doesn’t it make us hypocrites to benefit from the same thing we refuse to give to another? I am coming to see more and more the proof that our words and actions are nothing more that reflections of our hearts. We might as well be living inside out.

Father I thank you for all that you have given to me. Soften my heart and help me to see everything through Your eyes before my eyes corrupt my view. Amen.