TEAMissions in Peru - Friends

We all have our definition of what a friend is. We have Webster to refer to. But, how does the Word of God define a friend? Jesus says his friends are those who obey him John 15:14 and in verse 15 His disciples are his friends because He has made known to them everything He heard from his Father. In Proverbs 18:24 we read there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. We need to share one another’s burdens according to the book of Galations.

We agree we all have friends. Some are a lot closer and more intimate with us, and others fall in the category of being acquaintances. We have childhood friends that we remain in touch with throughout our lives. Or friends from camp, scouts, school, neighborhood, Bible study, Sunday School, church mission trips all come to mind. What about all our FaceBook friends? I mean some people have hundreds of friends/acquaintances on that site. Just recently a young teenager joined F/B and within 24 hours had over 60 friends. That means over 60 people who knew her reconnected with her on line.

Back to my original question, what or who is a friend? A friend loves at all times, regardless of what you say, do or think. The true friend is there for you; loving you, accepting you, forgiving you, guiding you, listening to you, sharing the gutsy stuff with you, helping you along life’s journey. Now I don’t know about you; I seem to have a lot of acquaintances. But I have just a very few friends. Why is that? Am I not friendly? I’m thinking it’s because I can’t nurture a lot of good friends; the kind that are described at the beginning of this paragraph. Think about your friend, maybe your ‘best’ friend. Maybe you come up with more than one name. The only remaining question I have for you is this….did you think of Jesus? He is the only friend I know who consistently loves me and even died for me! And, we know, He is a lot more than a friend could ever be.

There may be times when we think we are all alone; our friends have moved on, forgotten us, we are no longer important to them; we’ve been replaced with new friends. We may find F/B is great to reconnect with these friends. How often do we have a longing to reconnect with Jesus? We are never alone and no F/B friends can compare. Jesus is the answer to the original question, “who or what is a friend?”

Distance separates me from many of my friends. FaceBook helps bridge that gap. But there is no one like Jesus and my friends who emulate Him are the closest thing on earth to a real friend. Thank you to those few who are here for me; loving me, accepting me, forgiving me, guiding me, listening to me, sharing the gutsy stuff with me, helping me along life’s journey, praying for me and caring for me. You know who you are. Remember, those tears we’ve shed, the prayers we’ve prayed, the deep conversations we’ve shared? I thank God for your love and friendship and I couldn’t close without saying this…Don, I consider you my best friend. (Yes, we have celebrated, cried, danced, dined, laughed, longed, loved, planted, prayed, pulled, rejoiced, reminisced, sweat, served, walked, worked, and even worried {shame on us!} together.)