Philemon - Pt 5

Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Philemon 1:8-10 ESV). Onesimus was once a slave. Apparently he wasn't a really good slave. In fact, it doesn't seem that he was even very useful to Philemon. In the days when slaves were property and indicated wealth, no doubt Philemon had Onesimus on his balance sheet just the same. A bad slave was still more valuable than no slave at all. Onesimus was now a changed man, however, according to Paul. He was useful! He had a purpose. He was a Christian. He worked. He was needed. It is good to be needed, isn't it? Some of you mothers and wives are thinking, sure, but can I have one day off every now and then? There never seems to be enough time when you have children to care for. As we looked at previous verses yesterday, we saw that God has a purpose for every Christian. Today, I want to explore a little bit of how God uses His people. At the time of your salvation, the Holy Spirit entered your heart. At the same time, the Holy Spirit "gifted" you with a special ability within the body of Christ. The lists and descriptions of these spiritual gifts are detailed in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. However, the short version is that if you are a Christian, you have a spiritual gift. This gift, which can only be used in doing the will of the Lord, is God's way of including you into His plan. He didn't invite you into His Kingdom to sit on the sidelines. He wants you to be active, serving Him, so that others may come to know Him and be encouraged in their Christian walk. You can discover your spiritual gift through scripture and prayer. I have used several good tests, which can help discover your gift, and I do suggest them. You can usually find a good one at a Christian bookstore. I find you are usually not surprised by the results, because your gift will be something you feel comfortable doing. If you don't know your spiritual gift, may I ask you a simple question? How long have you been a Christian? If you say longer than a few days, may I ask you another question? Respectfully, how long could you be on a job without knowing what to do? Isn't that what you are doing as a Christian? God has a job for you. My kindest suggestion is that you find out what it is and get busy!