By Robin Wiley
No greater love has a person than this: than they are willing to lay down their life for their friends. Now, you are my friends, if you do what I command you, to love one another. You didn’t chose me, but I chose you. I chose you to be my disciples and friends. I don’t call you servants because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing, but I call you friends because you know what the master is thinking and doing. You know the inside of the master’s head and heart. You are my friends. (John 15:12-17)
Thomas Aquinas said a long time ago, “There is nothing on earth to be prized than true friendship”.[1] Such a relevant statement for our world today where we all need special people to laugh, share secrets and celebrate life with, and it’s not just about enjoying only good times together. True friends will journey through the ups and downs of life, divorces, health challenges, and even a precious loss. It’s easy to be friends when life is easy, but a real friend never allows someone they care about to go through difficulties alone. Whatever hardships the world has in store, true friends stick together and get through them together. I hope you’ve had an experience like that.
Friendships are a deep part of my core and I have enjoyed friend relationships with both males and females but the closest are with nine ladies I have known since the late nineteen eighties, over thirty-seven years ago. We are a tight-knit group, with our own families now, but we make time to spend a weekend trip together at least once a year. Well, we did that for many years until the pandemic, followed by nonstop illness such as cancer, early onset dementia and heart issues. We’ve had a group text thread going between us for many years which stays pretty active with family updates and prayer requests. I love how we are eager to share both the good and bad news of our lives with each other, like an engagement or baby announcement, or devasting news like a death or cancer. We are never too far away to offer each other encouragement and support.
Things finally settled down enough to plan a trip for late fall, so we recently met together for a weekend in Canton,Texas where they host this large monthly antique/trade marketplace. We rented an AirBnB house in nearby Tyler and had such a sweet visit despite having to deal with some weather challenges. A large tornado came very near to where we were staying, and in our neighborhood, warnings and sirens were blasting very loudly and frequently. Keeping our eyes on the local news and watching the radar on our phones gave us some indication the worst part of the storm would miss us, but I think it was the way we comforted and reassured each other which helped the most. One of my friends even commented that she was glad she went through this emergency with us ladies rather than her husband because he would have overreacted and had them sitting under a table with pans on their heads like helmets (something he saw in a movie once LOL).
The Bible has quite a lot to say about friendship, starting with Abraham who was called a friend of God. He is the only person in the whole Old Testament who is given that high honor. We are “descendants of Abraham (John 8:33-47) and to be a called a friend of God is an incredibly high honor.
Like the great old hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus” says: Jesus is our greatest friend. To think of Him as a friend is to allow God to come down to our size, so we can understand who God is. During the last three years of His ministry, Jesus and his disciples had become very good friends, walking, talking, fishing, sailing, and hanging out together. Jesus was not only their Master, Lord and King, but Jesus had become their good friend, someone they could trust, someone they could count on, someone who would not put them down. It was during their last meal together, where Jesus spoke the scriptures mentioned above in John 15. He places a heavy value on the disciples He considered to be His best friends.
Jesus feels the same way about us today. I strive every day to consider Him to be like one of my oldest and dearest friends. He is ready to listen, ready to comfort or carry our burdens; all we have to do is talk to Him. Jesus was a friend of sinners, and I take comfort in that. God is a friend of imperfect people. God knows our shadow side and still likes and loves us. For me – that is a good friend.
Prayer for today:
Thank you, Father, for the friendships in my life. Each one is a special gift you specifically placed to enrich my life. Your son Jesus is the ultimate gift of salvation and forgiveness with helping to become the best version of myself for your kingdom. It is by His name I proclaim victory with my prayer. Amen.
[1] https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/9350-thomas-aquinas