WordCosmos

It’s a beautiful thing to call someone a friend, or to have someone call you friend. But who then is a friend? There are many definitions but this one strikes the most:  A person with whom one has a mutual bond of affection or personal regard. The friendship bond is so strong that true friends could be regarded as family; Proverbs 18:24 “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

What does friendship mean? It is the conduct of being a friend, a form of love which is bound and navigated by loyalty to commitment. Love is a crucial element in the act of friendship, because when you love, you trust. That is why the bible lays so much emphasis on loving God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind (Matt 22:37).

The foundation of lasting relationships is built on the core basis of friendship. For example; When two people come together in holy matrimony, they do as friends who are in love and who’s made the commitment to continue to love and share the rest of their lives together, in a bond that now makes them one flesh. it is in friendship one finds the true expression of equality.

The Bible made references to what true friendship is like. An example would be the friendship between David and Jonathan illustrated in 1 Samuel 18:1 “And after he (David) had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” And verse 3 says “Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul.” How beautiful! Why did both Jonathan and David see a need to enter a covenant? Why didn’t they just part ways? Wouldn’t just loving each other be enough? The covenant was a commitment, which is love in action. it was an invisible signature of the enduring assurance of the binding of their souls, written in their hearts. Even after Jonathans death, David never forgot their friendship, but extended kindness to Jonathan’s son.

With true friendship comes sacrifice. Such sacrifices are compelled by selfless love, for the upliftment of the loved. Our lord Jesus said in John 15:13 “Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friend. In verse 15, The lord calls us his friends.” Accepting Christ into your life, is extending your hands to His invitation of friendship. When you say yes to Jesus, you enter into an everlasting covenant of life with him. It is a covenant which can never be broken. Our Lord says in John 14:6 “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through Me.”

Sometimes we get caught up in the things of this world, that we forget what really matters. Just in case you got caught-up with life and you seem to have forgotten what really matters; I am here to remind you that the salvation of your soul and your relationship with Christ is what really matters, as it navigates the direction of other factors in your life and where you will be spending eternity.

And if perhaps you happen to have stumbled on the message, God is extending a hand of friendship to you today. You need not worry, He’s already paid the price, that you may abound in His love in Joy, peace, righteousness, holiness and every good thing. I’d encourage you to say Yes to Jesus, come back home to Him, His love is forgiving and wipes away all your sins; Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Halleluiah!

There will always be “friends” who will betray, or people who will walk out of your life. When this happens, don’t be dismayed, know that they were never meant to stay. Instead look to God for strength and comfort, having the assurance and confidence that His love is pure, true, unchanging, steadfast and last forever. It could be His way of saying, “I want to best for you, trust Me in this.” Jesus knows how it feels to be betrayed and walked out on, remember Judas Iscariot betrayed Him even after having shared intimate moments with Him.

WHAT LOVE IS and ISN’T

1 Corinth 4-8 “Love suffers long and is kind: love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, Love never fails.”

SINCERE REFLECTIONS

• How is my relationship with God?
• How much do I love Him?
• How much do I seek and desire Him?
• When was the last time I spent quality time in His presence?

Be honest with these reflections, and ask the Lord to re-ignite His fire in your heart.

PRAYER

Dear father, I thank you for loving us, thank you for waiting for us. You know us, you know our names, you see our hearts and you know where we are lacking. I pray that your divine love will transform our hearts, even as we confess our YES to you this very moment. We receive the grace to persevere, the heart to love and the spirit of truth to stay true to our commitment to You and to those we love. Amen!