[Wednesday's Devotional] - Friends

Who is your best friend?  Do you have one?  Most of us have a number of friends, and often they are workmates or people we have known for some years or neighbours we have got to know.  Sometimes they are people we went to school with and still have contact with or someone we go to the same club or church with at present.  But which of them would you call your best friend?  Or is it none of them?  For many of us our best friend as we grow up is our mum.  We may not think so at the time.  She makes us go to bed when we are wide awake and gets us up when we want a bit more time in bed!  But she is the one who takes care of us through thick and thin.  My mum was a Diamond Girlie.  I can still hear her saying “Oh, our Jimmy, you didn’t did you?”  Yes mum I did! Forgiven again, but with words of reproach.

 

Unfortunately friends can be unreliable at times, untrustworthy, or lead us astray without us realising it until too late.  When you need that favour from a good friend, really need it, can you rely on them or will they make excuses?  Similarly, can we be a real friend to someone, whoever they are, when they need help of any kind.  Do we greet friends with a usual “Alright then?” or “How are you getting on?” without really wanting an answer, and is the response “Fine, and you?” before you both move on.  I hope your friends have more time for you than that, and I hope I do too.

 

In the book he Diamond Geezers, Anthony Delaney tells of the time he saw Eric Delve preaching:

 

Eric held up a nail saying, “This is the sort of nail the Romans would have driven into Jesus’ hand and feet. If someone had to have a nail driven into them, who do you love enough to say ‘Don’t do it to them, do it to me instead?”

 

Of course, we all have one friend who is there for us at all times, whatever the situation, and whatever mess we have got ourselves into.  In times of trouble you can always turn to God. He may not approve of what you or I have done, but He is always there, and even if you don’t notice he is ready to put an arm round you, offer comfort, and help you start again.

 

 

Jim Finch