Head Scratcher — Philemon - Wednesday
Today’s Verse
Philemon 1:11
Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. (ESV)
A few summers ago, I wandered into a small antique shop tucked away on a country road. It wasn’t the kind of place you plan to visit. I had just taken a wrong turn, and there it was—half-hidden behind overgrown trees, the paint peeling from its sign, windows dusty with time. Inside, it smelled of cedar and age. Old clocks, rusted tools, worn books, and chipped pottery filled every corner.
Near the back, I found a wooden chair. It was clearly an old chair based on the style but it shined like new. The upholstery was fresh and the finish was shiny. It looked like it was made yesterday. However, it was the tag that caught my eye. It read: “Restored with care—ready for its second life.” I found the owner, an older gentleman with thick glasses and leathered hands. He told me he’d found the chair rotting in someone’s garage, destined for the firewood pile. But he saw something in it. He took it home, sanded it down, rebuilt what was broken, and gave it a place again. “Most people only see what something is,” he said. “I try to see what it could become.”
Redemption is like that.
When Paul writes to Philemon, he doesn’t ignore Onesimus’s past. “Formerly, he was useless to you,” Paul admits. Onesimus had likely run away and may have even stolen from Philemon. He was, by many accounts, a failure. But in Christ, the story didn’t end there. Paul speaks a new identity over him: “Now he is useful to you and to me.” Not because of what Onesimus did to earn it, but because of what Jesus had done to transform him.
Redemption isn’t pretending something wasn’t broken. It’s choosing to believe it’s not beyond repair.
We live in a world that loves to label people by their worst moments. Addict. Dropout. Divorced. Runaway. But the gospel rewrites labels. It calls people by a new name. Beloved. Restored. New creation. It sees not who we were, but who we are in Christ.
If you’ve ever felt like the broken chair in the corner—used up, written off, good for nothing—I want you to hear this: Jesus is in the business of restoring what the world calls useless. You are not too far gone. And your story is not too messy for Him to redeem.
APPLICATION
Is there a way the world has labeled you that you still hold onto? What new name does the gospel give you instead?
PRAYER
Jesus, thank You for not giving up on me when I was at my lowest. Thank You for seeing value where others saw failure. Help me to believe in the redemption You’ve spoken over my life—and give me eyes to see others not by their past, but by Your grace at work in their future. Amen.