September 2023

We have many expectations for our friends. They should be loving and caring. Friends must always be available to talk, always comforting when we need a shoulder to cry on, always have a listening ear, and have other patient and loyal qualities. But I don’t have any friends that I can always count on to fulfill my expectations. However, I do know that I can count on Jesus to always be everything I need and more because, He is that kind of friend.

Jesus is a model friend. In John 15:12-13, Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” In the next verse Jesus explains, “[g]reater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” We expect our friends to make sacrifices for us, but few friends would take the punishment for our mistakes, even if the punishment means death. He is that kind of friend.

In Mathew 11:19, Jesus is called a friend of tax collectors and sinners. He wasn’t afraid to be known for keeping company with heathens and drunks, because He came to save heathens and drunks. When the scribes and Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they criticized him. When Jesus heard their disapproving words, he told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick . . . .” (Mark 2:17.) We hope friends will stand by us when we show our character defects. He is that kind of friend.

Jesus rejuvenates and resuscitates lives. We may become stagnant in the Lord at some point, and then merely attend a revival and be rejuvenated right then and there. We can hear a sermon in church and feel that the pastor is speaking new life directly into our desperate, lifeless situations. There have been times when people have heart attacks, code, and need to be resuscitated. The doctors can say no, but Jesus always has the final say. The Holy Spirit rejuvenates and resuscitates us with Jesus’ words. He is that kind of friend.

There is an old song that says, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bare. What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.” It feels so good to take our burdens to Jesus, leave them with Him, and have faith that it’s already done. He is that kind of friend.

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV) says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” HE IS THAT KIND OF FRIEND!