REFLECTIONS

Friends

(Adapted from the Archives of February 3, 2013)

God blesses life with companions whose lives cross paths for a time to share the joys and pains that come along the way. Companions are plentiful during the journey, but friends are few. “Friends stick closer than a brother,” the scripture says.[1] Friends know each other from the inside out—and they love each other anyway. That’s what friends do.

Friends are those who come alongside during times when others may stand in judgment. Friends are there to give warning when a wrong path has been chosen, and to encourage when disappointment rears its head. They are there to grieve in times of sorrow and they are there to celebrate when victories come. Friends walk the path with one another, in good times and through troubled ones.

Friends have enriched my life. They are witnesses who have seen beyond the façade I portray and into the frailties I try to hide. And they love me anyway. Friends are blessings to have, and a calling to become. And there is one friend who set the standard.

Jesus is a friend to all who seek him. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows the motives behind our actions when we can’t admit them even to ourselves. He hears our thoughts even if we don’t say them. He feels our emotions even when we conceal them. Jesus said this about friends,: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” And even with all our frailties—that’s what Jesus did.

My prayer today is to be a friend like Jesus, to be there in good times and bad, to take the hand that reaches out, and to share the joy when blessings come. I think maybe that’s what Jesus meant when He asked us to, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org.

[1] Proverbs 18:24

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