PHILEMON 4-7 – “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.”

THEME OF THE DAY: ARE WE LIKE PHILEMON?  Let’s take a trip back to Genesis.  The fall of our first parents Adam and Eve has occurred. Humanity plunges itself into the misery of sin. Fellowship with God is broken, and not long after the first murder happens. Cain, out of sinful jealousy, kills his brother Abel. That is a lesson itself to show us the heinous extent sin may take a person.  Right after the murder, the Lord confronts Cain with the familiar question, “Where is Abel your brother?”  Cain’s response is another manifestation of the evil of sin. He lies – “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:8-9). If we were there, and knowing what we know about the Christian life, we would answer Cain with these words, “Actually Cain, yes, you are your brother’s keeper.”

In the Christian life, the moment Jesus Christ saved us, we no longer live for ourselves.  We live by self-denial and that for others.  We belong not only to Christ but to each other – “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:4-5). So, in a real and practical way, we are keepers of our brothers and sisters with the responsibility and privilege to care for them, invest in them, encourage them, and live the Christian life with them, and that not just an hour on Sunday morning.

Today’s scripture is an excellent example of a man who took seriously the Lord’s call to be in deep spiritual relationships with other believers.  His name is Philemon.  Spend time reading the Apostle Paul’s letter to him and notice how active in love this Christian was toward other believers.  He encouraged them, served them, refreshed them, cared for them, shared his love and faith in the Lord Jesus with them, and the Apostle Paul affirmed his effectiveness for the cause of Christ.

Philemon exemplifies for us what it truly means to be Christ-like in our relationships with other Christians.  He would have been the type of believer other Christians would want to be around.   People eagerly enjoyed his company, not begrudgingly endured his company.  Why?  He was others centered.  The most discouraging person to be around is the one who just must draw attention to himself.  A selfish person is a draining person – emotionally and spiritually.  That would not have been Philemon.

So the question before us is this – “Are we like Philemon?”  Think about it.  How we answer determines if we truly believe we are the keepers of our brothers and sisters.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for Christians who love and encourage me in my walk with You.

REFLECTION: Yes, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We have spiritual responsibilities to them.