WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS!

Bobservations Column
by Pastor Bob Lawrenz

   True betrayal can only come from someone that is a trusted friend, or confidant. The disappointment can be devastating when we learn of a betrayal, and we have all been there….  We have placed our trust in someone, who for whatever reason has compromised the friendship.

    Friendships involve mutual trust, and that means that the walls of defense are down, and we are open, and we are vulnerable. That can be a scary issue to those who have been hurt in the past. The old adage, “You only hurt the ones you love” is perhaps more true than we’d like to admit. So, we choose carefully those that we love and we are rarely hurt by people with whom we do not have a relationship.

    “A man who has friends must show himself friendly.” Is what Solomon wrote in Proverbs. And to have friends, there must be a point of vulnerability that we are willing to place on the line between “acquaintance” and “friend,” and it is reciprocal in respect and in love. The heart of another is a cherished possession.

    Jesus’ command is to love one another; to love and respect our spouses; to love our neighbors, and to even love our enemies. It’s a challenge to love the unlovable. It’s a challenge to love our enemies. Those who hurt others have most certainly been hurt themselves. Healing needs to take place on both sides.

    Among the twelve Apostles, you just know there had to be issues among them: preferences, disagreements, suspicions, etc. Yet look what happened when the relationships were built around the singular identity of Jesus Christ.

    It is then no wonder that Jesus tells us to “know no man after the flesh.” Nothing good will ever come of it. But when we focus our attention on Jesus, we will find ourselves in good company, with shared goals, motives, and desires. We will be among like-minded friends. And conveniently, Jesus has already prayed for us along those lines:

“That they may be one; as thou,
Father,  art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us:
that the world might believe
that thou hast sent me.”

~ John 17:21 (12-26) ~