Friends

Friends.

How does one define a friend? We all have friends, some closer than others. Me? I am blessed with an abundance of friends.....including you! I won’t pretend that I personally know everyone who gets this e-mail, but I know many of you and I consider you to be my friends.

Oscar Wilde wrote of George Bernard Shaw, "Shaw hasn't an enemy in the world. And none of his friends like him." Author Jeremy Thorpe, tongue in cheek, misquoted a Biblical concept when he wrote, "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his life." Unfortunately, there are some folks who actually abide by that fractured command. Someone else said, "A friend in need....is a pest!" Ah, but a real friend! Now we're talking!

We all have many acquaintances whom we appreciate and enjoy. A friend is another dimension. A friend is someone who has been at your side through the proverbial "thick and thin" for years. That friend knows you on your good days and the bad ones, yet never varies in his or her appreciation of you. You can probably count the number of those friends on your fingers, especially if the duration of that friendship has been for decades. I have several such friends, and I’m sure you do as well.

The best friend you have, of course, is Jesus Who has promised never to leave you, never to forsake you. Unlike Thorpe's misquote, Jesus laid down His life for His friend!

Let me encourage you today to be a great friend. It’s impossible to be a close friend to every person you know, but we can certainly be friendly to everyone we know and to everyone we meet.

Sometimes all it takes is a smile and a "hello" to brighten someone’s day. Life is so crazy busy that we sometimes fail in that. But today, I encourage you to slow down just a bit.....and be a friend.

The Bible says this: Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be arrogant, but be friendly........(Romans 12:16)