SCRIPTURE: “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” (Ecc. 4:9-10 KJV)
QUOTE: “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” -Albert Schweitzer
NOTE:
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy (Proverbs 27:6). Sin deceives us. It darkens our understanding and makes us fools. So much so that we may be walking in sin and convinced that we are obeying God (think of the Pharisees). This is why we desperately need friends. We need friends to lovingly show us our sin. We need friends to help us see our blind spots. We need friends to speak with brutal honesty (Matthew 18:15) and tender compassion (Galatians 6:1), telling us the truth about ourselves even when we don’t want to hear it, because it hurts (Ephesians 4:15).This is a vital function of community that few people want. Majority of us would much rather have friends who always tell us what we want to hear, who show us the false grace of excusing wrong doings and give us false hope that we can grow closer to God without repentance and straightening out and up our lives. But because sin is a poison to our souls and Satan the thief’s mission is to steal, kill and destroy our relationship and confidence with and in God, we cannot afford to forsake this kind of friendship to help overcome temptations.
ILLUSTRATION:
“And Prophet Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul…… Wherefore hasth thou despised the Lord commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? Thou have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon….” (2Samuel 12: 7, 9 KJV)
REFLECTION:
- What is your duty towards your friend?
- Have you ever been betrayed by your friend like Judas?
TWO YEAR BIBLE READING: Esther 4 – 5, Psalm 95