I had the privilege last fall to officiate at the wedding of two
dear friends of mine, Shari & Bill.
A couple of weeks ago, Shari told me that she had a picture of the two
of us from the wedding and wondered if I would like a copy. I gave her an immediate, “Yes”!
This week she handed me the picture I have included in this
post. On the frame are the words,
“Friends Forever – Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and
impossible to forget.” I was so blessed
by this gift.
This got me thinking about friendship and what role it plays in
my life. I have different kinds of
friends in my life. I have people that I
know that I rarely see, but I would still introduce them to you as my
friend. I have other people in my life
that I see on a much more regular basis, maybe at church every Sunday or
throughout the week that I would also consider to be my friends. All of these individuals have a special place
in my life and I feel blessed to know them.
But if I honestly look at my relationship with most of these
people, I really don’t know them very
well. I don’t know all of their likes
and dislikes, what their favorite foods are, what their favorite hobby is or
even what colors they like best. I don’t
have much of a clue as to what the desires of their heart are or what concerns
keep them awake at night. If you asked
me questions about them, I’m afraid I probably wouldn’t know very many of the
answers. The truth is that I know them,
but I really don’t know them.
However, there are a few people in my life, besides my family,
that I would also introduce to you as my friend and I think I would do quite
well if you inquired about them. The
reason is that I do really know them. I’ve spent considerable time with them,
through the good and through the bad, and I’ve learned what makes them
tick. They have allowed me to be a part
of their life on a much deeper level and in turn, I have allowed them to be a
part of mine.
Having this kind of relationship with these close friends didn’t
happen overnight. It took quality time
as well as quantity time with them as they got to know me better and I got to
know them better. It sometimes amazes me
that these close friends still love me even after they know me with all my
faults and failures. They accept me for
who I am and they are such a wonderful support system in the good times and in
the bad.
I have another friend
who knows absolutely everything about me.
He knows my every thought and every action and yes, He still loves me
too. This friend of mine was also
Abraham’s friend. James 2:23 tells us
that Abraham was called God’s friend. In
2 Chronicles 20:7 we read “O our God, did
you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived?
And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend
Abraham?” Isaiah 41:8 says “But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my
chosen one descended from Abraham my friend.” What an honor to be called God’s friend! What really amazes me is that the One who was
Abraham’s friend, wants to be my friend too!
John 15:14-15 says “You are my friends if you do what I
command. I no longer call you
slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends,
since I have told you everything the Father told me.”
How do we become
friends with the One who created us?
Abraham was God’s friend because he was willing to demonstrate his faith
in God. He was willing to be obedient;
and we are told to do the same. We need
to be willing to do what He asks us to do and follow Him without
hesitation. But it will be very
difficult to do this, unless we intimately know Him. To have a close friendship with Him and know
more about Him and even look more like Him, we have to be willing to spend time
with Him. We need to realize that it
will take quality time as well as quantity time with Him for us to mirror His
image. We can’t just put His Word, the
Bible, on our nightstand and expect that it will somehow infiltrate our mind
while we sleep. We need to be willing to
read it, digest it, and then let Him speak to us so that we can learn His ways.
Our world today has many lonely people in it…and you may be one
of them. If you are, I recommend that
you find a church family to worship with and one with whom you can do
life. Getting to know other brothers and
sisters in Christ will eventually bless you with some close friends who will
support you in the good times and the bad.
Most importantly, I want to strongly urge you to make sure you
are spending quality and quantity time with the One who created you. God knows everything about you and loves you
right where you are today. He wants to
be not only your heavenly Father…but He also wants to be your very best
friend. But that can only happen if you
are willing to get to know everything about Him. Read the Bible every day and if you don’t
know where to begin, just start by reading one chapter in Proverbs, the one
that corresponds with today’s date. So
since today is the 20th, begin by reading the 20th
chapter of Proverbs. There are 31
chapters in this book so you will have one for every day of the month!
If you are looking for a forever friend…remember that you will
need to take action. You can’t just sit
and wait for the relationship to just “happen”.
Get involved…reach out to others…be a good friend to someone else and
above all, begin to know God in a deep and personal way. I can promise you that He will never leave you
or disappoint you and He loves you more than you can imagine!
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