Friends

A very simple but powerful text this week. I looked up “friends“ in the Bible and it is mentioned 100 times in 97 verses. “Friend“ is mentioned 70 times in 66 verses.

.

To give you some perspective “wife” is mentioned 344 times in 320 verses. Just about half, dare I say that friendship is one of the most important relationships God created.

.

Even though the husband/wife union is the most sacred relationship one can have, I think the relationship between friends cannot be under-estimated. It is a very powerful relationship that clearly is recognized in the Bible.

.

In this day and time when marriages come and go, we see that the relationship between friends can last far longer than some marriages.

.

Some of us have had friends longer than we have been married, some twice as long as we’ve been married. Our friends share in our good or bad, happy or sad times and are usually a sounding board for our wildest and greatest ideas.

.

Our friends usually have seen us at our worst and our best. A friend supports us when we are down and celebrates when we are up.

.

The verse above says to pity a man who does not have a friend to help him up. I take this statement to mean more than just physically help him up. Imagine a man with no friends then recall the countless times you have shared moments, events, thoughts, issues, successes with your friend.

.

There are probably too many to count…a friend is truly a blessing… I urge you take a moment to reflect and honor you “TRUE” friends

.

As you’ve seen me say,

.