friends

Today is my friend’s birthday. There are actually three of us that have been friends for more than four decades. We grew to love each other when we attended the same church in California. Unfortunately, we no longer live close to each other. We are in Utah, Montana, and Idaho, but when we are able to get together it doesn’t take any time at all until we are back to laughing and singing and loving.

Proverbs reminds us that “A friend loves at all times.” [Proverbs 17:17a]

That book also reminds us that there is “a friend who stays closer than a brother.” [Proverbs 18:24b]

When I think about the friends God has given me … the ones I have had for decades as well as the new ones I am making now … I am blessed. I know that they love me and that they will stay close to me no matter what is going on in my life.

But there is another friend. “I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father.” [John 15:15]

Jesus told His disciples that their relationship was not master/slave, but friends. When He prayed for the disciples that were around Him then, He also prayed for those future disciples who would believe everything He said because of their testimony. That’s us! And as the original disciples were friends with Christ Jesus, so the future disciples would be also.

I have friends who love me all the time … I have friends who are closer than even people related to me … and one of them is named Jesus.

Thank you, LORD, for friends.

I guess I have done enough complaining about the air travel (although I may come back to it at some point!). Now I want to tell you about old friends and new ones.

The purpose of this trip was a difficult one, of course. I was going to visit old friends, not for a vacation, but for a Celebration of Life for a man who died far too young. I knew it would be a difficult journey but was honored to be asked to officiate.

It was good, even in the midst of sorrow, to see old friends and loved ones. It was wonderful to put my arms around people I have known and cared about for many decades now … to see their families, to meet their children. I spent time just asking questions about how they are doing and talking a bit about my favorite subject, our Savior and LORD, Christ Jesus.

I also got to meet “new friends,” people who shared the same love of God as I have. A lovely lady picked me up in Billings when I landed and drove the 100 or so miles to where we were staying. We had a wonderful conversation … of course, about our shared love of God.

On the day of the service, a loving couple took me and another friend who came from Arizona to their home for breakfast. This was the day of the service, and it started off in a very peaceful, gentle way because of their graciousness. During the day, this couple took us from church to lunch, back to church for the service, to the reception and back to our lodging … all the while providing a haven of peace for my spirit. I am so appreciative.

What I discovered, or perhaps simply remembered, is the amazing sense of family that exists between people who love the LORD Jesus.

1 John 1:7: “If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” [HCSB]

This past weekend was an expression of the fellowship we have with one another because we walk with our Savior and LORD in the light!