Bible and Friends

Of all that God made, he saw that it was very good. But with the creation of his masterpiece ‘man’ he was dissatisfied and said, “It is not good for the man to be alone…” God saw the incompleteness of man without a companion/friend. Therefore, he fashioned a helpmate for man. That’s the story of friendship from Genesis. David had a close friend named Jonathan. The name “Jonathan” means “a gift from God.”May we be reminded that friends are a gift from God! We need to treasure, respect and honour them as our own possession. Jonathan loved David as his own self. He was willing to part his Kingship for his friend.Such was Jonathan selfless love towards David. David was loved by Jonathan more than all his brothers. The old cliché says, “Blood is thicker than water.” But the blood of divine surpassed the flesh and blood of earthlyrelations. And in this friendship between David and Jonathan, the divine blood played the partof this abiding covenant. With the untimely death of Jonathan on the battlefield, David lamented for his beloved friend in this manner, “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of a women” (2 Samuel 1:26). A companionship that lasted for a lifetime was what defined David-Jonathan friendship. Daniel had three friends- Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. They were captured as captives into the hands of Babylon, a pagan race. They were indoctrinated with the philosophies, idolatrous culture, superstitions, magic and arts of Babylon. Yet their godly bond of friendship strengthened each other to go through den and fire. They resolved not to indulge in the partaking of royal excessive food habits and drinks and stood strong in an immoral and anti-God environment. O! How we need godly friends in our day and age of all the rampant corruptions surrounding us. Job was a rich man. He probably had thousands of friends and guests who were daily visiting him. But in his days of trial and infirmity,abandonment marked his life including his own loved ones and relatives;only three friends out of thousands came to pay him a visit-Eliphaz theTemanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. Only genuine friends surface to the level in times of need. Jesus, the Son of God had thousands of disciples following him. But he had only three intimate close friends-Peter, James and John. He was deserted by them yet he took no offence against them. The principle of “forgive as the Lord forgave” should be manifested in the circle of friendship. In the fellowship of Trinity, the picture of friendship is presented in the person of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The completeness of God is seen in this union in contrariety. With the onslaught of the invasion of technologies and easy access to virtual world, the value of true friendship is shrinking thin. The time in spending with friends on Facebook, Watsapp, twitter, messenger, etc. has impersonated the reality of true friendship. We have thousands of people on our friend-list, but very few close friends. Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” True friends are a rare jewel among many ordinary stones. If you have found one, you have something to rejoice about. Love and cherish them. Pray for them and reconcile quickly if you have sinned against them and restore the relationship for good. Some of the verses to be meditated on this friendship week: … A gossip separates close friends (Proverbs 16:28) Do not make friend with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared (Proverbs 22:24, 25) Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses (Proverbs 27:6) As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17) If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! (Ecclesiastes 4:10). I have called you friends, says Jesus (John 15:15) Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33) You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4). Happy Friendship Day! Shalom!  Vebu Khamo, Bible Student