Once several years ago (longer than I would like to think about) my Dad spoke at the funeral of a man who was a member of the congregation where Dad was the minister. The gentleman was a fine Christian mine and a good friend of Dad's. He had loved him dearly. I will always remember Dad's beginning remarks. He said - with tears in his eyes - "A friend loveth at all times, and Brother So and So (choosing not to reveal names) was my friend. I loved him and I will miss him." Then Dad went on with the rest of his message. I don't remember anything else he said; but I will always remember that he called this fellow Christian a friend. Of course, we all know that "a friend loveth at all times" is from Proverbs 17:17. What a great tribute it is to be known as a good friend of others.
We all need the love and support of friendship in our lives. We've talked about how special friendship is before. I'm not saying anything new here -- just sharing a few observations and memories. We know that God created man in His image. He gave us free will because He wanted us to desire to obey Him, follow Him, be with Him all of our own accord. He made us as social creatures with emotions. God created the family unit for a purpose. He wanted His children to have love, comfort and companionship from their family members. And he wanted us to have friendships too - for the second commandment is "Love thy neighbor as thyself."
Think about it - how can we understand that "God is love" if we have never felt the emotion of love before? How can we know how love feels unless we have experienced that with people we can see, hear and touch. God knew that we would need these emotional ties with family and friends in order get through life. To even begin to understand the grand scale of God's great love we have to experience and understand love on our own human scale. As we value love and friendship in our earthly lives, we learn to value even more the love of a Supreme Heavenly Father.
Jesus used friendship of others to try and explain His great love for the apostles. Listen to His words in John 15:12-15 - "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord does; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you." Jesus was about to die on the cross. He wanted them to love one another - to hold fast to each other - for they would need that great support from each other. But most importantly He wanted them to understand how much He loved them. He was going to die for them. He challenged them then to do what He had commanded them. He is calling them friends - He has shared with them about the Heavenly Father. I think these verses are beautiful. Just to see some little bit of the relationship Jesus had with these man who had been with Him almost constantly for about three years now. He must have had a great deal of love for them.
Friendship can be - is a huge part of a person's life. Yes, family is very, very important. I am not trying to downplay that in the least. Friends just enhance and enrich our lives in so many ways. I am so happy to have good friends in my life. People I know I can depend on if I ever need anything. These are friends who are always there for me -- that are happy when I am happy and sad when I am sad.
I have friends that just make me smile when I think of them. I just get a feeling of warmth and love just by being around them. I have in mind two such friends right now. They mean the world to me. They are both part of the church family where I attend. One of these friends is only 4 years old. The other is about 80. Both of them have been a wonderful blessing in my life and I hope and pray that I will always remember them.
My little 4 year old friend is a former Bible class student. I teach 2's and 3's so he was "promoted" at the beginning of the school year. I miss him being in my class. This child has one of the sweetest natures I have ever known. He always has a smile on his face. He has a very gentle way about him. He is a cuddly little fella too. He isn't in my class anymore, but when services are over he will seek me out. He always gives me a big hug and sometimes a little kiss on the cheek. He will smile and say, "Hi Mrs. Robin." We usually exchange a few words and then he is ready to go on his way. That hug, that smile and those little conversations we have are truly a blessing to me. It is my earnest prayer that this young man will always have this wonderful sweet nature of his. If he is able to hang onto this, he will be a great blessing and influence for other people.
My other friend is also very sweet and gentle and always has a smile on his face. This fine Christian had been an elder and served the Lord and His church faithfully for many years. He retired as an elder a few years back because of his health; but he is still one of the backbones of our congregation. He stays very active and still gardens during the summer. I was pleased to have tomatoes from his garden several times this past summer. Young children have always loved this man. He is nice and tall - and like I already said very gentle. I think children feel safe with him. Over the years, I have seen children calm down after they are handed off to this wonderful man. He is a widower now, and has been for several years. That has never kept him from being faithful to the Lord. He rarely ever misses a service.
Just this past Sunday after services, my friend got up and spoke to the congregation. His message was brief, but it had a great impact on all of us. He thanked a couple of people for helping him with something when he was sick. Then he thanked the entire congregation for showing him so much love and support throughout the years. In return, he pledged his love for the whole congregation. He told us he never want to be anywhere else -- that he couldn't think of a better place to be. He plans to live out his life as part of that congregation.
Well, our church was so uplifted by our brother's sweet words. You can't imagine how good it made us all feel to know how dedicated he is to his church family. He really did uplift us all. It had an affect on us -- when I went to the foyer - I just stood back for a moment to soak it all in because of all the love and sharing that was going on that day. People were talking, laughing and communicating with one another. Love and encouragement was in the air. I just loved being able to witness that. And I thank my friend because he truly blessed the congregation that day.
It is easy to see from these personal examples and from the few scriptures I cited, how important friendships should be. It is something we long for. It enriches our lives beyond measure.
I saw this on a church sign once -- "The best vitamin for friendship is B1." So if you have good friends count your blessings and thank your God. Then make some new friends, too. It's not difficult - just remember to take your vitamin and B1.
Christ above all things,
Robin
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