The other day I was talking to one of my dearest friends on the phone. I was calling him to update him on how the process was moving at the Church I am currently preaching at. They are looking for a Pastor and I hope that I am the man God has for them.
As I told him how encouraged I was he made a statement in jest that stuck in my mind for the next day or more. He said, “I will finally have a friend in the valley.” The valley he refers to is a literal valley in the landscape. This kept repeating over and over in my mind. I thought to myself, “He knows he has a Friend of friends in Jesus. He is kidding me.” Yes, I know he was kidding; but, truthfully there are multitudes of other people who have no friend in the valley. This valley is the valley we call life.
The thing is as we go through life we need friends, desperately. Now, I mean good friends that will walk with us, cry with us and even share ice cream with us (their treat or ours). Good, solid friends are few and far between.
Let me ask you a penetrating question. Are you the kind of friend that walks into someone’s life when everyone else is running out? I mean will you be tried and true no matter how bad your “friend” messes up and makes a shambles of their life (and others)? These are questions to ponder in light of our friendships.
Jesus is the Example of a friend! Look at Proverbs 18:24, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” I do not have brothers or sisters by blood; but, I do have brothers and sisters by Christ’s blood by the bus loads. I thank God for them. A very few of them are God’s kind of friend and for them I shout, “Thank God!”
So, how are you doing?