“May the LORD show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he was often a comfort to me and was not ashamed of my being in prison. On the contrary, when he came to Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. May the LORD grant it to him to find mercy from ADONAI on that Day. And you know very well how much he helped me in Ephesus. “(Eph 1:16-17)
At Paul’s first defense in Rome, everyone deserted him. He was left totally alone. The Christian brothers were ashamed of him. Everyone in the churches of the province of Asia also turned away from Paul even its prominent leaders. But the LORD stood by him and gave him the power to proclaim the Gospel before the court of Caesar. The Gospel could not be chained even though Paul was.
There was one person who was not ashamed of Paul. He travelled all the way from Ephesus and earnestly looked for Paul among all the prisoners of Rome. To the jailers, Paul was just another prisoner, but to Onesiphorus, Paul was the elder and itinerant preacher who travelled long and hard from Jerusalem to give him the message of life. A debt he could never repay. So he came to Rome purposely to serve the precious elder for the remaining days of his imprisonment.
To many of the Pharisees and other Jews, Paul wasted his life but to Onesiphorus, Paul was a light to the Gentiles who were perishing. At the end of his life, only the closest disciples of Paul stood by him. All the more, Paul’s martyrdom spurred them to go everywhere where Paul did not so that people may hear of the LORD YESHUA.
Paul was never alone, although there may have been times when he became very lonely. The LORD YESHUA was always with him. As He promised, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
Is your loyalty like the dew of dawn that goes away early? Everyone has a price. What is yours? Like Onesiphorus, my price has already been met at the foot of the Cross.
I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine!
מלאך
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