Usefulness

DEVOTION
PHILIMON
USEFULNESS
Philem 8-11
8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul — an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus — 10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
NIV
So what do I take from this? I suppose I could admit to myself that before I became a believer in Jesus Christ I was as useless as the next guy, but useless for what? The answer is simply, I was useless for the Kingdom of God, for I believe I was useful to the enemy of my soul. I spread lies about the existence of the Kingdom, about God and all he represents. I was useful to my own pleasures, serving myself in any way I chose. But I was certainly useless to the Kingdom of God. But since the Holy Spirit was able to break through the shell of self- preservation and reveal to me the truth about God and I responded with a resounding “Yes”, I am no longer useless. I would think I have become useful to both others and well as to the Kingdom of God. I elected to be part of the body of Christ and thus I needed to find which part I was. As each part is useful to all the others as well as in need of all the others, it was necessary for me to fit within the body. This I believe the Spirit has directed me in and I am now a useful member, serving God and his church. I don’t think that God ordered me to this place, but he did appeal to me through his divine love to be who I am, and do what I do. I am not sure I am as good as I should be at being who I am and doing what he desires me to do. I surely am not a great teacher, or preacher, or writer of words. I cannot gather my thoughts in an real organized fashion, I am a rambler of thoughts and ideas that are spawned from his Word. I wish I could be more organized, but I simply do not have the capacity within. I wonder why he has not gifted me with that ability. I do not think it is a learned skill, but rather a God given trait of which I do not have. So I am stuck with who I am, and must accept my limitations at being organized. I cannot use that as an excuse not to do what he has instructed me to do. I think that my usefulness is completely dependent on him. If I am to accomplish anything for the Kingdom, it has to be because of him. I merely need to allow him to do his work in me and through me. My usefulness is in his hands.