BE A TRUE FRIEND
Today’s Text: A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)
Today’s Thoughts: No one likes to be in a one-sided friendship. True friendship is when there is mutual love, trust, giving and taking and whatever else is necessary, but it is all twoway. If we want friends – the bottom line is that we must be friendly. A true friend like that will often be a more faithful friend than a blood-relative. We all need and long for that type of friend. I hope we all strive to be that type of friend too. Ultimately, there is only one Friend that we can rely on without reserve and know that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of that Friend, and that Friend is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There is no Friend like Him.
Today’s Testimony: I love people! Many of the people that know me will agree that I am a very friendly person. Normally I am quite relaxed to speak to or befriend a total stranger. I love making new friends. Most attempts to be friendly work. Most people will be more than willing to exchange a greeting and a smile. Today I’d like to share my favourite story of making a new friend that happened a few years ago.
A new tenant had moved in to the one granny-flat next door. The gentleman appeared pretty serious and gruff to me at first. I’d greet him and get no more than a casual greeting back – no smile. Then, seeing I’d done my best to try and befriend this neighbour, the Lord stepped in.
Firstly, let me tell you the ingredients the Lord needed, and then you’ll need to follow the story to see how each one of them fitted in and was totally necessary. This might sound like one of the weirdest testimonies you’ve heard so far, but God works in ways we never would have thought of. To form a friendship between me and my neighbour the Lord used: guineapigs, a dog, a boy, a bunny and some Japanese quail. Ready to hear?
It was a Monday afternoon and I was going outside in the front garden to see to the guineapigs that we had at the time. Family of ours had gone away for a while and we were looking after their small dog. Seeing I’m the animal lover in my family, this dog stuck by me most of the time. He therefore came with me to sort out the guinea-pigs. While we were busy with them, I heard someone calling from the other side of the garden. I looked up and saw a boy hanging over the wall trying to get the dog’s attention. I therefore left the piggies for a moment and took the dog over to visit the boy. I held the dog up so he could stroke him a bit and then I had a brief conversation with the boy. I asked him if he lived there, seeing that house has a few granny flats, and he said, no, his mom’s boyfriend lived there. From that I gathered that it was the newest tenant next door.
The following Monday while I was seeing to Blobby, my new bunny at the time, whose cage was near the wall the boy had been hanging over, I heard strange noises coming from nextdoor. Eventually I saw the culprit, the little boy, poking over the wall, making the noise and then ducking. Finally he stopped and just hung over the wall for a while a little bit away from where I was. I then asked him a question, and seeing he didn’t hear the first time, he moved closer. We then had a good conversation until my neighbour came along. He asked me what type of birds those were that we had in the cages nearby, I replied, “Quail”, and then the two of them left.
I never saw the boy again, but a while later when I was seeing to Blobby again, in his new pen right opposite my neighbour’s door, my neighbour came out and asked me what type of birds I said those were. He’d looked them up and they looked more like another type of bird. I then told him that they were not normal quail but Japanese quail. From that day forward we would often greet and have a brief chat when he was arriving or leaving home while I was busy with Blobby.
God wants us to be friendly and make friends for His glory. I did not see any positive results from that friendship, but he knew I was a Christian, and one day when we get to heaven I hope that this story will be completed with me meeting my neighbour and hearing him say, “I saw that you had something that I needed, and I’m here today because of you.” I want to keep making friends and I hope that every single one of them will be friends that I can keep for all eternity. Will you be one of those friends?
Today’s Task: Be a true Friend. Be friendly to everyone you meet. You never know what an impact you can make on someone. There are so many people dying in need of a Saviour – maybe you can be a friend to one or more of those people and introduce them to your Best Friend. Do your part to make friends and God will intervene. He knows where each one of His lost sheep is. Help the Lord to bring them home.
Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You are the greatest Friend we will ever have. I thank You that You are a faithful Friend. Please help us to find and befriend your lost sheep. Help us to introduce them to You. Lord, we want friends, and we want to be able to keep them for all eternity. Help us to be friends – true friends. I thank You that You can intervene to form friendships when we can do no more. We love You! Amen.
