JESUS, THE TRUE FRIEND

March 3

Psalms 119:75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

It is true that a man is known by the company he keeps. It is also true that a man is known by the type of people who part from him.

Our friends are people that we consciously choose to bring closer to our heart and to our lives. We want to bring them closer to us because they provoke us to godliness. Sadly though, for many people today, the way to choose friends has much more to do with how they make them feel than with a true and honest evaluation of their virtues. They tend to choose friends from the muddy slough of ‘Sans Scrupules’ (without scruples) where people use the soiled waters to hide their imperfections. The ‘friends’ from that filthy slough make people feel good; they feel flattered and elevated in their own eyes. The dirt on these ‘friends’ does not pose a challenge to people. They call it progressive, wise, tolerant, of great discernment and virtue. This creates a “blind leading the blind” situation, and both shall surely fall into a ditch (Matthew 15:14).

How much better it is to choose friends from the clear and true waters of “Lake Faithful”; their clarity will certainly expose any dirt clinging to our souls and thoroughly wash it clean. The waters of this Lake may be hard, but there is no mistaking in the faithfulness of their purity.

Oh, how precious is the friend that is not afraid to tell a truth; how valuable to our spiritual maturing it is to have someone dear to our heart who is faithful to tell it to us like it is. When two friends are secure in their affections, there can be such strength between them, a love bound that even the devil cannot separate.

Amidst all our acquaintances, let us make Jesus our best friend. He is not afraid to tell it to us like it is. Let us have such confidence in His love for us that we know that it is in faithfulness that He afflicts us, as a proof of true love for us, just as a good and true friend should do. .

Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.