Thought of the Day - A True Friend

A True Friend
The Definition of a Real Friend
Proverbs 18:28

Over the last couple of months I have been able to find friends of what I call, ‘yesteryear.’ Many of these friends are people I went to school with, played with, worked with and the list goes on. I was thinking about the impacts that each one of these friends made upon my life. Some made greater impacts upon my life than others, but granted every one of them made an impact.
Many times we have all had friends that were like family. We fought with them, played with them, argued with them, laughed and cried with them, and we shared special moments with them. Some moved off to far away destinations and we may not have had contact with them. Some live next door, and many moved to another town, but we keep up with them. Now, with the computer and internet we can keep up with a lot of people and even find people. Even with all this technology many friends just seem to disappear. That brings me to my thought for today.
Solomon wrote, “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” (Proverbs 18:24). There are two statements in here and both are true. For a man to have friends he has to be friendly. Every group of kids, that grows up together, end up in some different kinds of categories, or clicks, so to speak. You have the one group who seem to do everything right to be in the ‘popular’ sect. Then you may have the middle of the class group and then the group nobody seems to hang around. It didn’t matter what group you were in, you had your friends in that group. It didn’t make any difference at what group you were in, you had to show yourself friendly to that particular group. Then, you weren’t guaranteed to be liked either.
Our nation is in this same turmoil today. It doesn’t stop in school. You still fit in an upper, middle, or lower class and many of these look down at the others. Many still ignore people that they feel are beneath them; it doesn’t matter how friendly those others are. However, the friendships that are true never really end.
The second statement in the verse is talking about nobody else, but Jesus. He is the greatest friend any human can ever have. In Hebrews 13:5 we find that He said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Many people who call themselves friends to others drop them like a hot potato when something bad arises. Jesus will be there for you. Your friends on this earth cannot love you like Jesus does. If they do say they can, ask them would they be willing to die for you. Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, (John 15:13). Jesus died that you may have life. He hung on the cross for everybody, which includes you. He clarified this verse in verse 15 when He said, “I have called you friends.” This friend has provided you a place to stay when you leave this earth. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, (John 14:2).
This friend provided you with life everlasting. It’s up to each individual to accept that by repenting of their sin and asking Him to be their Lord and Savior. He will always be there, because He said He would. In Matthew 28:20 he said, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Amen.
With all these worldly friends God has blessed us with there is none that is a better friend than Jesus. Thank God that He is a true friend indeed.