He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

~Philemon 16 NLT

The last rays of light descended over the backyard, but he was nowhere to be found.

My middle brother loved to hunt deer. When we lived in the lower part of our state, we both had belonged to a deer hunting club and hunted every Saturday, weather permitting. Now that we had moved to the upper part of the state, the deer hunting rules differed. No dogs. Just still hunting.

Beside the home where our parents lived lay a large acreage of woods owned by a faraway timber company. Since no “No Trespassing” signs appeared on any of the property, my brother decided he’d hunt deer there. We had also hunted squirrels.

One evening, he struck off by himself. Mom and I lounged around in the house, doing nothing in particular. But when darkness arrived and my brother had not, Mom said, “You better go find your brother.”

Knowing the woods and the spot where I thought he might be hunting, I took my flashlight and headed out. As I slithered through the woods, I softly and then loudly called his name. Nothing. I walked farther and called again. Nothing. After crossing a small creek and a fence, I called again. This time, he answered. I could tell something was wrong.

When I reached him, I discovered what. He had wrenched his ankle while crossing the creek. Since these were the days before cell phones, I’m not sure how he would have gotten home had I not looked for him. He wasn’t a big boy, but neither was I. Nevertheless, I hoisted him on my back and piggybacked him all the way home. I became my brother’s keeper.

My middle brother and I got along well, but that wasn’t always true of him and my younger brother. By the time they were teenagers, I was a young adult. Many times, I watched as they got into shoving matches in Mom’s den over something silly. They never exchanged blows, but my middle brother was no match for my younger brother—who was much stouter. Fortunately, their relationship changed as they got older, and they became great friends.

Paul offered slave owner, Philemon, the chance to become his brother’s keeper by taking back—without punishment—his runaway slave, Onesimus. We don’t know whether he did or not, but I want to think Paul may have persuaded Philemon by telling him his slave had decided to follow Christ. He would be more useful to Philemon since they were brothers in Christ.

Jesus’ mothers and brothers once attempted to rescue Him, thinking He had overstretched Himself with all the traveling and teaching. As He taught in a house crowded with listeners, some told Him His mother and brothers stood outside, looking for Him. He responded by pointing to all His listeners and saying they comprised His mother and brothers, then said everyone who did His Father’s will was His mother, brother, and sister.

We do better together rather than apart. God designed that we live that way. Yes, we should look after our immediate family first, but our larger family is all our fellow believers and then everyone.

Not caring for others diminishes the worth of others in our sight, leads us to acts of selfishness, and ultimately takes us to sordid acts such as when Cain killed Abel—an act that arose because God accepted his brother’s offering instead of his. For Cain, life became about him, not his brother.

John Lennon sang it well in his 1970s hit, “Imagine”: “Imagine all the people living life in peace.”

Change whatever needs changing so you can become your brother’s keeper.

Share an incident where you became your brother’s keeper.

Father God, as You love us, so may we love others.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2021: My Brother’s Keeper: Martin Wiles: All Rights Reserved