Strength for the Spirit
Read Philemon 1:17-25
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen” (v. 25).
As a child, I was in awe at wax museums.
There, standing or sitting in lifelike poses and settings were real-looking replicas of famous people! They were perfectly fashioned according to their historical dimensions. Their glassy eyes gleamed and their coiffed hair was meticulously styled. Some of them even “talked” when you pushed a button.
I have to say; I still enjoy museums. And wax creations still intrigue me. It takes a lot of skill to create those plastic people. But there is one thing missing from these forms. They have no spirit. They are not living.
It is said that a servant named Onesimus penned the epistle of Philemon for Paul while he sat in prison. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the apostle ends his letter with a prayer for the grace of God to be with “your spirit.” Commentator Matthew Poole says this is the same thing as saying be “with you.” As living souls, humans are not like wax figures, but rather imbued with life because we have a God-given spirit.
Today, may the strength that comes from the grace of our Lord empower you to glorify Him in all you do and say. That was the prayer of Paul for Philemon and us! (Valorie A. Quesenberry)
You are alive in Him from the inside out!
