Have you ever really wondered who your true friends are?
Maybe you even question whether you have a true friend? True friends seem to be hard to come by these days. Then the question would be, what is a true friend?
I remember, as a kid having what I thought was a true friend. Then one day someone came to visit our home. And then we went to the home of my best friend and her family. After this person visiting had said something to my best friend, which to this day I don’t know what was said, our friendship was over. It was like it never existed. I am sure each of us has gone through similar situations.
I was reminded this past weekend how important friendships are. Our family spent Thanksgiving with some great friends. Friendships are a blessing and we don’t want to lose them.
A Friend
Friendships are either like a two-way street or they can be like a one-way. I think friendships can start out as a two-way street. Your both going opposite directions, one is following Christ and the other the world. We have these friends all around us. They may not be our best friends but we still call them our friends.
Two-way street
The question is, what brought the two of you together as friends? I mean your goals are obviously not the same. Hopefully, they see something in you that they are attracted to, Jesus. And hopefully, you have a love for people and want them to know about the love of Jesus. I would caution you here to be careful. We need to build a friendship with people to reach them for Christ but we need to be careful that we don’t let their friendship drag us in the opposite direction that we want to be going. We need to love them where they are at and join them in activities that are not displeasing to God. But we need to stay away from the things that we know will get us on a one-way street going the wrong direction.
One-way street
One thing about one-way streets is that there is more than one lane. And the other thing about one-way streets is that you can be going in the wrong direction. Spiritually speaking one way goes toward God and His ways and the other way goes against God and His ways. The best kind of friend to have is one that is traveling the same direction you are, toward God. Now there is still more than one lane. We are all on a different journey. The Lord is working with each one of us differently so we are not all going to be in the same lane (growth level) but our goals are the same, to reach heaven.
When we have a best friend going in the same direction we need to accept them where they are and love them and we always hope they do the same for us. This doesn’t mean at times out of love we don’t go to them and share something that we see in them that may need improvement. But when we do we need to make sure our motives are right and God is leading us. I would hope that my best friends would do the same for me. We need to pray for one another as well. We can be so close as best friends when our goals are the same.
The Best Friend
There is One Friend that is the best. He will always love us no matter what we do. He longs for that mutual love. No matter what direction we go He will always be there prompting us to a better way of life but He does not force. He wants to spend time with us but He will not join in anything contrary to His Father’s will, He will not join us in our sin. But he is still there waiting when we come back. He is a friend that will always lead us in the right direction. But we have to choose it.
Our earthly friends may disappoint us but Jesus will never disappoint us. We may be disappointed in the direction that He leads us. At this point, we need to examine our hearts. Do we really love and trust Him? Trust is a part of friendship and our earthly friends may not always be trustworthy but Jesus always is. He knows everything about us. And He knows us so well he knows what is best for us.
Dear Father,
Thank You for giving Your Son. Thank You that He is the best friend that we can have. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Continue to prompt our hearts to be on the one-way street toward You.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Make a commitment to be on that one-way road toward heaven. The way is narrow but there is room for everyone that wants to go there. Praise God!
Love you all.
Do you have a best friend? What makes them so special to you?