April 14- Be a Two-Dollar Friend

My psychology professor in college told me that true friends are  like $2 bills- they are out there, but it is rare to find one.  Everyone one needs a friend.  C.S. Lewis said, “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What? You too?  I thought I was the only one.”

However, in order to have friends the Bible teaches that we must be friendly. What does it mean to be a true friend?

1. Be Someone Others Can Talk With.  Relationships are established through conversations.  If you rarely return calls or go weeks or months without talking with someone, odds are you are not a close friend.

2. Be Someone Others Can Turn To.  Does your name come to the forefront when others are in need?  Are there people in your life that seek your counsel, opinion, and time?  People need to know they can depend on you during difficult times.

3. Be Someone Others Can Trust In.  At the end of the day, a true friend is someone you can share the most intimate details of your life.  Real friendship does not break the bonds of confidence.  Someone needs you to be a $2 Friend.

I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light” – Helen Keller

I’ve Got Friends in High Places

During the Civil War, President Lincoln received many letters from soldiers who were sentenced to death because of their abandonment and desertion.  Oftentimes their appeal would be accompanied by letters from family and friends.  The prisoners would seek the help of their associates to make a case for their character and honor.

Lincoln received one letter that had no such accompaniment.  This particular prisoner had lost all of his family in the war, and had no friends to vouch for his life.  Lincoln knew that overruling a death sentence was a complicated matter so he did not take the responsibility lightly.

When the sentencing finally came an officer asked Lincoln about the prisoner who had no friends.  Lincoln told the officer that the man was pardoned by saying, “Let the man go, I will be his friend.”

There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  You and I were also sentenced to death.  Sitting in bondage we waited for the execution of our souls; but the King of kings intervened and said, “I will be their friend.”  We should rejoice in knowing that Christ is a friend to sinners, and He pardons those who deserve the judgment of God.  It is good to know we have a Friend in High Places.

“Ye are my friends”- Jesus Christ

How to Help Someone in a Hole

There was a preacher who walked by a hole one day and heard a man crying for help.  The man cried, “I have fallen into this hole and cannot get myself out.”  The preacher assured the man that he would indeed pray for him; and then walked away.

Not long after, a police-officer walked by the same hole and heard the same man crying.  The police officer told him it was unlawful for him to be in the hole.  He wrote him a ticket and threw it down the hole and walked away.

Then a politician walked by the hole.  He asked the man if he was registered to vote.  The man said, “No, I have been down here in the hole.”  The politician told the man where he stood on the issues of the day and walked away.

Finally a close friend walked by and heard the man crying.  When he saw it was his friend down in the hole he immediately jumped in the hole with him.  The man in the hole said, “Are you crazy, now we are both down here in this hole?”  The friend replied, “No worries! I have been in this hole before, and I know the way out.”

Sometimes God allows us to go through adversity to simply help others.  Had we not been through particular problems in life we would not be equipped to assist others when they go through the very same problems.  God will never waste a trial; He wants to use your struggles as a source of strength and encouragment to those around you.  Don’t look at your trouble as an obstacle to be refused but rather as an opportunity to be reused by helping someone who will one day be in the same hole.

“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up”– John Andres Holmes