Who is Your Witness?

 What does the first day of school remind you of? New friends and experiences? Or feeling alone or overwhelmed with something unknown? For many people, one of these feelings describe that momentous occasion.

The feeling of being alone is scary but imagine standing before God... alone! No one to defend your life. This is when it would be nice to have a supporter, a voice for you, someone who could testify on your behalf. In legal terms, that's called a witness. But it's used a lot in Scripture as well. In fact, the idea of a witness is packed all throughout the Bible and is actually part of the entire plot.

God becomes our witness towards our sinful lifestyle, but also a witness to our faith in Him. "As God as my witness" is a term that echoes the fact that God stands in the gap for us. A great place to see an allusion to this is in the letter to Philemon. Philemon was most likely a wealthy man who had a runaway slave, Onesimus, who had become acquainted with Paul while he was in prison. At some point, Onesimus realized he needed to do the right thing and go back to Philemon.

Paul stands in for or is a witness for, Onesimus. Hoping to help Philemon receive Onesimus back gracefully, Paul writes in Philemon 17-19, "If you accept me as your friend, then accept Onesimus back. Welcome him like you would welcome me. If he has done any wrong to you or owes you anything, charge that to me. I, Paul, am writing this in my own handwriting: I will pay back anything Onesimus owes. And I will say nothing about what you owe me for your own life…"

How glad Onesimus must have been to have a respected witness stand in for him. Consider the power of a good witness in life, do you have one?

Or are you one?