Megabit 25 — April 03

Saint Onesiphorus, Who Followed the Light

Today we remember a kind saint named Onesiphorus (say it like: oh-neh-SIF-or-us). He was one of the Seventy-two disciples, the helpers Jesus chose to go and tell people the good news about God.

When Onesiphorus was young, his family loved God and tried hard to obey God's rules. They liked to follow Jesus around so they could watch the wonderful things He did and listen to His teaching. Onesiphorus watched too, day after day.

One day, a mother in a town called Nain was very sad because her son had died. Jesus felt sorry for her, and He gave her boy back to her, alive and well. Onesiphorus saw this with his own eyes. After that, he wanted to follow Jesus with his whole heart. So he came close to Jesus, believed in Him, and was baptized, which means he was washed with water as a sign that he belonged to God.

Then God gave Onesiphorus a special gift: the Holy Spirit, the kind Helper who lives in God's friends. Onesiphorus traveled with the apostles and helped them. He went to many towns to tell people about Jesus. The apostles made him a bishop, a leader who cares for God's churches, in a faraway land called Athens, in Greece. There he taught people, helped them get baptized, and prayed for sick people so they would feel better.

Onesiphorus lived for seventy years, and he served God faithfully right to the end. When he died, he went peacefully home to God, like a runner who has finished a long race. Saint Paul even wrote about him in a letter in the Bible. We can learn from Onesiphorus to choose the Light: to follow Jesus and share His love with others.

He left the lamp of old to follow the Sun of righteousness, Jesus.

Paul remembered his dear friend Onesiphorus in the Bible.— 2 Timothy 1:16