heavenly light

heavenly light

Thursday 15 July 2010

A Friend Indeed

A Friend Indeed

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24

Recommended Reading
Psalm 55:12-14

There is no consensus as to the origin of the question, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"--but we all know what it means: Sometimes those we thought were our friends act like we would expect enemies to act. Anyone who has experienced such a reversal of "friendship" knows the pain and perplexity it can cause.

Job experienced such pain. When he was at the worst point of his life, his friends came to accuse and lecture him about his dishonesty before God, his failure to repent of whatever sins caused God to heap suffering upon him. They were not the kind of friends described in Proverbs 18:24--friends who stick closer than a brother. Anyone who has a brother or sister knows that siblings can act like enemies at times. But there is a friend who never does what even a sibling will do, a friend who loves at all times. That's the kind of friend Job needed, the kind of friend we need- and need to be to others in pain.

Jesus declared Himself to be the friend of those who follow Him (John 15:14). If you need a friend today, He is there for you. If you know others who need a friend, be to them one who sticks closer than a brother.

Sinners willfully lose God for a friend.
Matthew Henry

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