After reading the title of this entry, you are now thinking, “Oh, no, he’s gone off the deep end and thinks he can offer advice on saloon start-ups!”

Well, no, but I could offer insights for a consultant fee . . .

Returning to the point of this missive:  Have you ever been to someone’s home and experienced it?  Refreshment, that is.  You know what I mean; that sense that you’re really cared for in that place; that you can relax and be “at home” there.

It’s probably not the nicest home you visit – usually the really nice ones are the ones you feel the least comfortable in while you try not to soil or break anything.  There are probably a few things out of place or the décor could use a little updating.  But it has that certain something . . .

It’s probably not the least nice home you visit either – sometimes when things are a little too dilapidated or messy, it’s difficult to feel totally at ease.  You might be concerned that something might sneak up and bight you or that you might catch an exotic illness . . .

No, I’m talking about the place that always seems to be the right temperature no matter what the season; the one that has the warm soft throw blankets or the cool beverages at the ready; where you can put your feet up without fear of reproach or risk.  Kinda like what Goldilocks experienced when she found the one that was “Just Right!”

The Apostle Paul found one of these places while on his many travels and told Timothy about it:

So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us. I’m sure you know by now that everyone in the province of Asia deserted me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes. But God bless Onesiphorus and his family! Many’s the time I’ve been refreshed in that house. And he wasn’t embarrassed a bit that I was in jail. The first thing he did when he got to Rome was look me up. May God, on the Last Day, treat him as well as he treated me. And then there was all the help he provided in Ephesus—but you know that better than I.  2 Timothy 1:13-18

We all, like Paul, experience the desertion of friends, family, or loved ones, at times in our lives.  Maybe you’ve had them all desert you at once!  How wonderful it is when we find a “House of refreshment” during those difficult times.  It is a blessing to find our own Onesiphorus and the welcome we feel on our home.  His name literally means “profit bringer”.  We can all profit from friends like him.

Is your home like Onesiphorus’?  Is it a house of refreshment?  A place where folks can come and feel cuddled when they’ve experienced the cruel coldness of false friends?  A home where a cool glass, dripping with condensation, awaits them when they’ve confronted a hot, dry world?  Does it profit them to visit?

You might be amazed at the effect a home like that can have on folks – even those who just pass through.  Paul remembered Onesiphorus home and asked that God treat him likewise.

If I read Jesus’ description of Judgment in Matthew 25 correctly (His only description of the event), then it appears that He will indeed treat us just as well as we treat others . . .

Hopefully that’s Good News . . .

Pressing on toward the goal . . .

RevDrKid