
Sandwiched between birth and death are decades, years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. We spend most of this time eating, drinking, sleeping, dressing, travelling, working, etc. While all of these things can become wearisome with time, there is a gift given to us by God- to keep our hearts warm. That gift helps us to draw meaning and purpose in the little things of life. That gift is the gift of friendship. And along with true friendship comes love, empathy, and warmth. Without friendship, humans would die under the burden of monotony. Even the devil likes company and he has a lot of it. I think it was a great friend who said – “Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life.” I believe so!
I thank God from the bottom of my heart that He has given me a family of friends. I enjoy some of the best friends in the world. They not only add color and happiness to my life, but they show me my flaws in a constructive way. Proverbs 27:17 says that as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Friends are the mirrors in life. They show you who you are, without negatively judging you. A true friend will criticize you to your face but will also have your back in your absence. A true friend is the one who honestly rejoices in your victories and sticks close through the defeats. They know every ounce of you, but they love you with every ounce they have. Through the thick thin of life, friends become a safe haven.
Joseph Scriven, when he was in the lowest valley of his life, wrote one of the most loved hymns called- What a Friend we have in Jesus. And friend, He is! The world sees Jesus as the founder of a religion called Christianity but Christians see Him through a prism. Christ is not just one thing to us. He is our all in all, He is our everything. He is our God, High Priest, Redeemer, Lover, Savior, and very importantly, a Friend. In John 15:15, our Lord very lovingly tells His disciples- “I have called you friends.” In an age when the followers would serve their condescending Rabbis, Jesus called His disciples, friends. Not only did He call them friends, but He also showed it to them, to us, and to the whole world. He died for them who knew Him and for us who did not know Him! He died for His contemporaries who saw Him, touched Him and ate with Him. He died for us who did not even exist two millennia ago. Only a friend could do that. Joseph Scriven felt that warmth reaching out to Him during the 19th century. We feel that same warmth envelop us here in our own lifetime. There are millions of people who do not know that Jesus died for them, personally. Oh how I wish that they will know about this true friend!
Jesus is a friend of friends! I’ve tasted His friendship and I have seen Him walk with me through the annals of my short lifetime. I am sure that you too have experienced some form of goodness in your life. Give yourself a break from the buzz of life and thank the true friend for His love. But, don’t just stop there! Cherish and love the friends that He sent your way, as if to say, “You can’t see me so I sent you these friends, to show you my love.”
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
-Jesus
