My 10 and 12 year old boys are just now really starting to develop good friendships. As I watch them grow older, I am reminded that there are heartaches and joys associated with the relationships we develop in life. I am reminded, however, that a true friend is one of life's greatest blessings. To be called "friend" has deep meaning, even to young boys.
As I type this, I think of some of the friends I have had in life. Many of them from years ago have gone separate ways from me, but to see them now is still a pleasure. Do you have friends you no longer see often, but who have kept a special place in your heart, because of memories you have together?
Abraham had a special friend. Abraham could recall the day he picked up his family, left behind most of his possessions, and left the land on which he was raised, headed for a place God would later reveal. Abraham could recall the lonely nights, when his journey seemed long, and how God became his Comforter. Abraham could recall the sorrow of being childless, and how God became His Provider with the gift of a son, Isaac. Abraham could recall the confusion of being asked to sacrifice his only son, and how God supplied the ram, and God became his Redeemer. Most of all, Abraham could recall the closeness he felt to God, throughout all his trials, and how God had become his Friend.
Dear reader, I pray with all my heart that you know Jesus as your personal Savior. He is the only way a sinful man will enter Heaven. In addition to that, however, I pray, that over time, by investing your whole faith in Him each and every day, step by step, God, through His Son Jesus, also becomes your Friend. That privilege comes when we commit ourselves to building a relationship with Him everyday. Can you call Him Friend?
"What a Friend we have in Jesus! All our sins and grief to bear. What a privilege to carry, everything to Him in prayer. Oh, the joy we often forfeit, oh, the needless pain we bear...all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer!"
There is no other friend like Jesus!
