OH, WHAT A FRIEND

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:12-15)

HOW WONDERFUL IT MUST HAVE BEEN FOR THE ONES CLOSE TO JESUS TO BE CALLED HIS FRIENDS! TODAY WE CAN ALSO COUNT JESUS AS OUR FRIEND IF WE HAVE GIVEN OUR LIFE OVER TO HIM!

Too often we treat our friends as if they were a heating pad or an electric blanket; we keep them all tucked away until a cold night of trouble or sickness comes….Then we rush to get their help and warmth of their love to sustain us….This is not the right way to treat true friends!

A philosopher long ago once said: “A man is rich if he possesses one true friend.”….It is easy to have a host of friends to laugh with us and enjoy our hospitality and food; but friends who stand by us through thick and thin, through times of adversity, are not so easy to find! Some people are like the honey bee – they sip the nectar of your friendship for a short time, then flit away to more flowering pastures when a problem arises….Some others like to be around us when they need a boost to their ego or spirit, but once they get what they want, they are off to be with other “friends” that like to play like they do; it is nice to keep all our friends, but we should never do so at the expense of our Christian principles!!!!!

THE BEST AND FIRST FRIEND ANYONE SHOULD HAVE IS, OF COURSE, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!!!! HE IS THE FRIEND WHO “STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER”….HE IS A FRIEND WHOM WE SHOULD ENDEAVOR TO INTRODUCE TO ALL OUR OTHER FRIENDS!!! HE IS A FRIEND WE SHOULD EVER SEEK TO KNOW BETTER!!!!

We can never know how close one of our human friends are to a breaking point in their life, therefore we should treat them with respect and offer words of encouragement; maybe just a kind deed or word from us might just make that difference….It is not hard to tell our friends how much you appreciate them and love them – if we make it a regular practice and habit to do so!!!!!

Even more importantly, we must be able to tell others, friend or not, about the One who came to be a Friend To All People – JESUS CHRIST!!!!!

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS!!!!!