Useful

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love – and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother – especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Philemon 1:8-19

Onesimus had been an unfaithful servant when he fled from his master Philemon. But while on the run he came to know the Master Sculptor. As a changed man, he served God faithfully and was invaluable to Paul’s ministry. He then asked Philemon to receive Onesimus back as a brother.

Paul knew what it meant to be given another chance after past wrongs. He knew personally the transformation God can do. Now he saw it in the life of Onesimus. The LORD can chisel His image on our flawed lives and make us beautiful and useful too.

Our rough edges must be chipped away

to bring out the image of Christ.

Our Daily Bread – August 18, 2008