USEFUL!

The above is a picture of a new purchase from amazon.com. I bought a Roku HD Stream player. It has wifi and the primary reason to buy this is that it also has Netflix. I recently subscribed to Netflix and I found this to be useful for my room. This device may be useful for entertainment but not useful when you don't have a TV to hook it up to. Say you have a TV but no room for it or say you had a TV and a room but you moved. Your life has transitioned to a move nomadic lifestyle so things like pianos, TVs, beds, excess clothing and multiple computers do not matter anymore.

I am in transition. It was abrupt. The very thing I found useful is useless. This reminds me of the passage in Philemon 1.

10 I appeal to you
for my child,
Onesimus, whose father I became
in my imprisonment.
11 (Formerly he was
useless
to you, but now he is indeed
useful
to you and to me.) -
Philemon 1:10,11

Philemon is in a tough spot. His slave runs away, which when found could be punishable by death. He somehow makes his way to Paul while he is under house arrest and becomes a follower of the Way ("Christian", follower of Jesus Christ). This is where verse ten starts. He starts with an appeal or a plea or parakaleo. Parakaleo G3870 means to plea, to appeal, to call, to bid, to beg, to strive to appease by entreaty, and to admonish. Paul tells him that this slave was useless and is now useful.

12 I am sending him
back to you, sending
my very heart. 13
I would have been
glad to keep him
with me, in order
that he might serve
me on your behalf during
my imprisonment for the gospel,
14 but I preferred to
do nothing without your
consent in order that
your goodness might not
be by compulsion but of
your own accord.
15 For this perhaps is
why he was parted
from you for a while,
that you might have
him back forever,
16 no longer as a
slave but more than
a slave, as a
beloved brother—especially to me,
but how much more to you,
both in the flesh and in the Lord. -
Philemon 1:12-16

I love this passage. After Paul says he is useful, he sends him back as a brother, not a slave. Paul even goes as far to say in verse 15 that "...perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever." Onesimus is useful. His name means useful.

Don't useless. Be useful to the Glory of God.

The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit. -
Philemon 1:25