Friends

The other day I was talking with some people about friends and it got me to thinking what should a friendship look like, or at least try to look like. I took a read in the Bible, the conversation between God and mankind. It has some interesting things to say, such as, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. a

It seems that in our busy lifestyles we're all in search for sometimes as many friends as we can get to hang out with us and just to be around us. It seems that in that hot pursuit we come up with nothing more than a bunch of acquaintances that we only know by name and job, which we usually end up forgetting that much when it's all said and done with.

Maybe, you've been giving and giving and giving it seems like to those you call friends with what seems like no return of any giving back. It's as if you have thrown the Friendship boomerang and it seems it has gotten caught on the receiving ringer. But again God's conversation with all of us in the Bible says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. b That one is tough to swallow personally. I really have a hard time with that verse. To lay down my life for the ones that wrong me, ignore me, maybe even deny me when around certain people they know. To act as if I don't exist when all the while they know my name don't they. Could this be what it means to be Christ like? Because in essence that is what ended up happening to Jesus, in fact it went a step further, one of his confidants would betray him that would lead to his death. Death due to the betrayal of a friend, brother or sister. Maybe though, in that death of betrayal we could realize that we weren't alone, that in fact in that moment we were experiencing what our God in the flesh experienced, but isn't good to know or come to know that even death of betrayal couldn't hold him down. He conquered death and we also can conquer that death by offering and giving ourselves to the one who originally took that place and is calling us into something bigger than ourselves, something so great we couldn't ask for it or imagine it.

So as our pursuit of friends and relationships come and go, may we try if we dare to get to a point in our journey of life that we didn't ask who will be my friend, but instead asked the question who can I be a friend to that I could invest my time, energy, talents, gifts, resources, and self into even if it cost me my life.

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

A) Proverbs 18:24
B) John 15:13