​Along The Way

October 1 2020

In the Book of Philemon, Paul wrote a letter to plead the case of Onesimus who was a runaway slave. He was owned by Philemon and had stolen from him and was on the run. What he did not know was that he would meet Paul and he would lead him to Christ and his life would be changed forever. Paul was sending him back now to Philemon not as his slave but as a brother in Christ. And he promised to pay the debt that was owed for the stolen property. In appealing to Philemon, Paul reminded him that he was his father in the Lord. In other words he had led him to Christ just as he had done with Onesimus. Both of these men’s lives had turned out pretty good because of Paul’s preaching the gospel to them. Their lives had been transformed. Philemon opened his house to the church at Collosse and “refreshed” the saints. Onesimus served Paul while he was under house arrest. All of this happened “along the way”.

As we traverse through life, there are people we meet along the way who help us to grow, develop and advance towards our destiny. My parents, teachers, friends, coworkers, church family, spiritual leaders and bosses all made major impacts on my life. I could not be the person I am without their contributions. I ran into one such person right before the pandemic. It was truly a fortuitous meeting. I had a chance to thank him for being a light in my life. He was very appreciative of my expression of gratitude. I could tell it brought joy to his heart. Just as Paul helped Philemon and Onesimus, you too have been helped by someone along the way. I pray that you will also have an opportunity to say thank you to your contributors. I am sure that what you communicate to them will warm their hearts with feelings of gratitude. We thank God for all of our “along the way” participants in our lives. May they be richly blessed and prosper.