THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20
Scripture: Philemon 8-16

Do we know the Jesus Who asks us to forgive in order to bless? Philemon verses 10-15 state, “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back.[a] You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,…” Onesimus was a bondservant that belonged to Philemon, but he had run away from his master. While he was on the run he got saved and become quite valuable to Paul. Paul ministered to him, brought him into the fullness of the Kingdom and then wanted to send him back to Philemon. The letter to Philemon was to ask him to receive his bondservant Onesimus back without penalty. Do we know the God Who asks us to forgive betrayal and to accept it and to humble ourselves to all that implies? That is the story of Philemon. Philemon had to walk there over the issue of Onesimus because Paul asked him to. There is a high price tag to walking with God. There is no doubt about it.