To be like Onesiphorus

In 2 Timothy 1:16-18, Paul gives credit to the household of Onesiphorus saying:

"May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus."

There are many nights when I lay down to go to sleep and I shamefully realize how much of my to-do list that day was about...me. Where in our lives are we refreshing people? How are we refreshing people? Even more challenging, how are we conveying to people that we are not ashamed of their chains? How often do you spend your time searching hard for someone? In order to refresh others, we must give of ourselves and search hard for how to do so. It is only through the giving of his son Jesus that we may know God. It is only through someone's giving of themselves that you came to receive him and It is only through a combination of Jesus' sacrifice and the giving of ourselves that others may know him. I pray that we would not be ashamed of our chains or anyone else's and that we would refresh each other and search hard for each other ...as long as it is called today.