If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;
I’m thinking just now of what I’ve seen in shows about small towns in earlier years, where a person would have an account at the general store. I’ve often wondered how those storekeepers survived. They would have had to maintain an inventory. I assume they weren’t able to have a large account with their suppliers. They operated as both storekeeper and banker, sometimes bartering for goods rather than receiving money. How they could keep track of it all, how they could collect when necessary—it’s beyond me.
Paul implies in our text that both he and Onesimus have an account with Philemon. He requests Philemon to transfer Onesimus’ bill to him.
While the commentaries say the context refers to literal financial loss and repayment—Onesimus may have caused Philemon significant loss—Paul offered to raise the money to pay it back. In a sense, each of us has a running account with all men. We are not in this life alone. We survive off the same good air we breathe and water we drink. Every resource we use, every choice we make, more or less affects not only ourselves and our immediate circle, but also those who will live after us.
We are debtors one to another.
But how do we pay so great a debt?
At our disposal, if only we will accept it, are all the unsearchable riches of heaven. We must not be stingy with such vast resources. We must learn to be kind one toward another—generous, forgiving one another. We need to give to every man the right of free conscience. We must learn to love one another, be tenderhearted. We’ve got to learn to be patient with one another. As much as lieth in us, we need to learn to live peaceably with all men.
By the grace of God, we ought to learn to be a witness for Christ. Every man has a right to accept or reject Christ, but we owe it to them to present the option before them.
Today, you and I will make transactions with every human we face—those we speak to, those we encounter on the roads, those to whom we give a greeting, and those to whom we shrug our shoulder. They in turn will make transactions, until eventually these transactions circle the globe.
As Paul did, let’s determine to repay the debt.
#PutItOnMyAccount #LivingInGraceAndDebt #OwingLoveToAll #WitnessWithCompassion #TransactingChristlikeKindness
Living on a Shared Ledger: Living Generously with Eternal Riches
💬 Have you ever had someone step in and cover your debt—spiritually or otherwise? Paul did that for Onesimus in Philemon 1:18, and it’s a beautiful picture of Christ’s grace toward us. 🙌
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