As Paul the
apostle continued his final instructions to Timothy, he wrote, “all
they which are in Asia are turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus
and Hermogenes”. The timing of this was when Paul was arrested
for sharing the gospel and waiting for his death sentence to be
carried out by the Romans, and not even two of his closest followers,
“Phygellus and Hermogenes”, stayed
by his side. However, in chapter one and verse sixteen of his letter
to Timothy, Paul mentions “Onesiphorus”
who “often refreshed”
him where we read:
The Lord
give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus;
for he
often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:
The
verse begins, “The Lord give mercy unto the house of
Onesiphorus;” Paul began with
this blessing, “The Lord”
or “master, possessor, controller. supreme in authority and the
title given to the Messiah” “give mercy”
which is “to grant or bestow kindness, compassion, clemency and
good will” “unto the house”
or “to the household, family, home, dwelling place and descendants”
“of Onesiphorus”
whose name means “bringing profit”. This man, “bringing profit”
or “Onesiphorus”
is also mentioned in the final benediction of this letter in chapter
four and verse nineteen as Paul directs Timothy to “salute”
him.
The verse goes on to say, “for
he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:” Paul
went on to declare why “Onesiphorus”
received this blessing as he wrote, “for”
which means “because, since and on account of” “he
often refreshed me”
which is the Greek phrase “anapsychō
pollikis anapsychō”
and
shows a continual “cooling, recovering from heat and reviving” of
Paul. Rather than abandon Paul, “Onesiphorus”
demonstrated
commitment and desire to help Paul in his troubles. But not only did
“Onesiphorus” “often
refresh” him,
Paul added, “and was not
ashamed”
which is the Greek phrase “epaischynomai
ou epaischynomai”
which
means “to feel shame, disgrace, ignominy or embarrassment” “of
my chain”
or “binding of hands and feet, bonds or fetters”. In other words,
though Paul was chained, in prison and lacking freedom from the Roman
guard, this did not alter nor modify “Onesiphorus'”
constant
resolve to come to his aid.
While
we meditate upon these words of Paul, let us allow ourselves to
imagine what it was like to be Paul in prison where everyone
abandoned him. Then imagine the refreshment that came to him through
“Onesiphorus”
and the joy that came to Paul's soul when he visited. Now let us
imagine that we are “Onesiphorus”
who has been so moved by the ministry of Paul that he has no barrier
against helping him in his time of need. Only the Lord Jesus can put
a “refreshing” ministry within us, and as we think through
“Onesiphorus'”
continual and unimpeded service to Paul, even though he might be
embarrassed or even penalized for his association with him, may the
Lord Jesus put within us a desire to continually “refresh”
others in their time of need and “give
mercy unto” our
“house”
when we do.
Next
time Paul tells Timothy more about “Onesiphorus”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment