NAMING NAMES -- Devotional for May 17, from "Good Seeds"

May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and finally found me. (II Timothy 1:16-17)

Even though the Bible was written for the benefit of anyone who would take the time to read it, Paul told his young protégé that it is the man of God who will be “thoroughly equipped for every good work by its doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness” (II Tim. 3:16-17). Yes, the Bible is not only a textbook full of important facts of history and theology, but also a training manual for living a godly life. But even better than these, it is a love letter to mankind from God. A large portion of the New Testament is composed of epistles, or letters. Most of these were addressed to individual churches, but a few precious ones were private letters to certain, specific friends. Now, everyone likes to receive a personal letter, but there’s a certain, almost forbidden, excitement about reading someone else’s mail! And yet, we are not forbidden to read these, but very much encouraged to do so, for although they are highly personal, they are also greatly practical and beneficial for all who read them. But letters have names, real names of real people, in them. The apostle Paul was not at all shy about “naming names” – reporting the errors and sins of particular people, so that his readers could be forewarned and forearmed about former friends who were now working for the enemy (see 1:15 and 2:17). (I guess they didn’t worry about libel and lawsuits in those days!) But Paul also was very quick to name those who were an encouragement to him. We don’t talk much about this fellow, Onesiphorus (maybe because his name was so hard to pronounce!), but Paul thought the world of him, and told the world of Bible readers about him! From our vantage point we see Paul as a victorious hero as he contended for the faith, but in his own lifetime, among even his own people, the Christians, he was somewhat of an enigma at best, and a downright irritation and troublemaker at worst! So when he wound up in a Roman prison for his faith, some were no doubt thinking, “Serves him right, the old scoundrel!” And now he had nearly fallen off the face of the earth, as nobody seemed to know where he was, and nobody seemed to care. But Onesiphorus cared, to the point of scouring the Roman prisons until he found his old friend. Imagine the joy of these two when they finally met! And imagine something else: if your name was listed in the Bible, would it be as a troublemaker, or an encourager?