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Listen while you read: "All For Jesus"1 (Lyrics) |
Have you considered adding your friends to your list of assets? That's what they are — in some way or other.
Proverbs 18:24b – There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (NIV)
I'm learning to value friendships through watching older folk express their commitment to each other. They check on each other, guide each other, and share things like food, recipes, memories, outings, health reports, greeting cards, projects, joys, sorrows, and much more. I see them compensate for each other's deficits. They'll patiently listen to a friend describe endless details. I see behaviours that in my younger years I considered trivial, unproductive, and unnecessary in the bigger scheme. Now I see differently.
I'm discovering how friendships help to diminish the ravages of aging and societal decline. Well-nurtured friendships provide a strong immunity against loneliness, anxieties, and hopelessness. The many small gestures and sacrifices which friends make for each other accumulate over the years — like an investment. One can "cash in" on those "savings" by drawing on friendships forged earlier. It might be simply for a chat, or over a secret crisis.
Friends, unlike agencies, aren't restricted by paperwork or policies. They are free to express their mutual loyalty as best as they can, in whatever path that takes. Friends aren't obligated to "accomplish" anything. Yet, in fact, that's what they do. Friends help shape our character. They can make us better people … or worse people. That's a sobering thought; it's also scriptural:
Proverbs 27:9 – The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. (NLT)
Proverbs 27:17 – Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other. (CEV)
Proverbs 27:6 – You can trust a friend who corrects you, but kisses from an enemy are nothing but lies. (CEV)
Proverbs 22:24 – Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered. (NIV)
Proverbs 12:26 – The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray. (NKJV)
Perhaps the topic of friendship is painful for you. You may have lost friends, and the emptiness still gnaws inside you. Perhaps you were betrayed, used, or let down. Perhaps your treasury of friends is rather empty. To you, I say, Take heart! For there is one friend yet to consider: This is our Lord Jesus. He laid down His life for you — as your Friend.
John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)
We can enjoy the friendship of Christ through our sacrificial devotion to each other. Through our mutual loyalty, we give of ourselves to Him even as He continues to give of Himself to us. A well-nurtured friendship with our Lord is truly a worthy investment — a treasure both in this life and eternally.
John 15:15 – I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (NIV)
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to value and nurture the friendships that You provide — above all, the friendship of Your dear Son. Amen.
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Amen, Diane!
Such a good word, Diane
Great post, Diane. Thank you and God bless!
Thank you, Diane, for being a devotional writing friend. Blessings.
Thank you, Diane. I see this constantly in the senior communities I live in.
Thank you, Diane. Wise words and much appreciated.
Blessings.
Thank you! I love my friends! The Lord, and my friends have sustained me through life’s trials! And raising two autistic sons! Thanks.
Thank you, my Friend!! Once again, you have provided much to consider.
Keep Paisley friendly!
(ON)
Thank you, Diane, for this devotional today. Yes, it reminded me of that lovely hymn we know so well, What a friend we have in Jesus…
Enjoy this beautiful day.
So very true. By far my greatest asset is my friends. I have lost so very many and I miss them. I am 80+ and have some wonderful new friends I have made in the last 10 years. It is not the same, but they bring new things and knowledge into your life.
God bless.
You are so on the mark; You just became one of my best friends.! We are building a
Serenity garden on our church grounds for us and our community. A quite place, a place to celebrate, share and participate in helping all those who wish to use and enjoy. THANKS again for hitting the Mark.
Thank you for your devotional and your scripture references are so good for reflecting on how we make and lose friends through our life. I am so grateful for this devotional which a friend introduced me to several years ago — she was in her 90’s and it has been such a blessing to listen and learn.
Hi Diane,
Excellent devotional on the importance of friendships and I love the emphasis you put on Jesus being the friend that sticks closer than a brother! Someone once wrote a lovely poem and I have not forgotten it.
God bless you for writing.
Oh, Diane,
How lovely your words were for me to read today! So poignant and apt! Yes, friends are truly an asset! I am an only child and my friends have become like my family to me, so your words really resonated with me. And how lovely to have the greatest friend of all – Jesus!
I wish you and your family many blessings today!
Greetings Diane,
Many thanks for your devotional today. Our friendships over the years are so precious and, as you stated, the most important one is with Jesus. He is the ONE that we can always go to, at any time and any place for comfort and consolation. Blessings to you as you continue devotional writings.
(B.C.)
Hi Diane,
Good devotional this morning. I have been involved at the local long-term care centre, and I see and experience the friendship of the people who love there, however as we age, as I can testify, many of our friends pass on, just heard from another really good friend yesterday, and all we have left is memories, but as I always say at the Centre’s Memorial services, those memories are ours, they do not depreciate in value and no one can take them away from us.
Thank you for writing.
Dear Diane,
This devotion is so aptly timed. God is so good that way. I recently had a friend from my very young adult dates come back into my life after over 50 years of absence. She was in need as her health was deteriorating fast. What a joy it has been, for many reasons, that she could reach out to me and I am able to walk along side of her. Thank you for the scriptures and your insight regarding friendship. Indeed, friends are treasures that God gives us. No matter how far away we live from one another, our dear Lord, lets us reconnect for his purposes in his time. “What a friend we have in Jesus”.
Blessings to your day.
Thanks for a good word Diane. It is so very true.
When we are older, we must rely on one another. What l could once do on my own, l now need my brother and sister in law to help me with the job, and likewise they now need me. It humbles and amazes me what the three old guys can accomplish together: shed construction, roofing, corrals, clearing and hauling, whereas alone it could no longer ever be done. Having to work together out of necessity creates such a deeper and more open and caring relationship, one where there is not room for arrogance, pride or self-sufficiency. It truly opens one’s eyes to deeper meanings of God’s love.
Be blessed.