FRIENDS, LIFE AND THE BIBLE   

What is life without friends? Such is the power of friendship that life would be dull, boring and a drag to live with no friends to name. A friend is someone who loves and cares for us unconditionally, with full knowledge about our positives and negatives. Yet he chooses to stick with us because he loves us, and not because we are perfect and spotless. Such friends are not only precious and priceless, but are rare to come by. Keep them at all cost, if ever you find one.

At a time when most human relationships are being viewed and valued purely through the lens of their usefulness, and the value it adds to us and our profile; to find true and invaluable friends is like looking for water in the worst of all deserts in the world. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say, it is like seeing a mirage in the desert, and being convinced that it is water, and not an illusion. Such a sad state of affairs is nothing but the reflection of man, his heart, and what holds his attention and his interest. We have embraced a life where our values, ethics and principles are transactional in nature, and commercial in its perspective, outlook and approach. Most of our relationships have become thus.

Many times one may question, “Can we find good and true friends?” I say yes unhesitantly. The world is still not that bad…not yet. There still are some very fine men and women, who are untouched and uncontaminated by transactional and commercial approach to everything in life. Allow me to add, it is increasingly becoming difficult to find such people though.

The LORD God of all creation, the God of the Bible places very high value on friendship and friends. It speaks volumes about God our Creator’s perspective, and what it means to be a friend, and the worth of friendship in life, as He sees it.

1- LOVE OF A TRUE FRIEND
– “17 A friend loves at all times…” – Proverbs 17:17a

2- TRAIT OF A TRUE FRIEND
– “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” – Proverbs 18:24

3- FRIENDS AND THEIR WISE COUNSEL
– “9 Ointment and perfume delight the heart, And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel.” – Proverbs 27:9

4- HONOURING OLD FRIENDS AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP
– “10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbour nearby than a brother far away.” – Proverbs 27:10

5- THE LORD JESUS DEFINES FRIENDSHIP
– “12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” – John 15:12-13

6- THE LORD JESUS CALLS US HIS FRIENDS
– “14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” – John 15:14-15

7- JOB’S THREE FRIENDS
– “11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.” – Job 2:11-13

8- NAOMI FINDS A TRUE FRIEND IN RUTH, HER DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
– “14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.” – Ruth 1:14-18

Have you found such good friend or friends my dear brothers and sisters? I have found a few in my life. They are precious and priceless. Each one of them is far more valuable than the most valuable thing on this earth. They value is inestimable. Their contribution to my life is invaluable. A very small number among them are the closest of all. I am truly blessed! How about you?

Let us seek the LORD Jesus to help us find good and godly friends. Let us always honour our friends. Let us truly value their friendship. Let us cherish the joy they bring to our lives. More than seeking for a good and godly friend, let us be the kind of friend which the LORD Jesus defined in His own words. Even so the LORD help us.