Reflection: Blessing Four – Friends
In life, all of us need good friends. It’s great that Job’s friends are named here and that their desire to comfort and care for their friend is noted. Given what follows, one could question how helpful they were, but their intentions were noble.
Good friends are people who we share the journey with and in whose company we delight. In God’s providence he links us up with people, with whom we connect and we are refreshed by. The Bible is full of stories of friends, whether it be David and Jonathan or Jesus and his inner circle. Jesus himself honours each of us by calling us his friends! I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).
Friendship is a gift and a blessing. Yet it can be elusive. As we go through life we move and our friends move, and it can be increasingly hard to sustain those key relationships. We should acknowledge that most people have a small circle of friends and others seemingly none.
Give thanks for your friends, for shared lives, for joy and laughter as well as encouragement and listening ears. Give thanks for the opportunity to bless and be blessed by them.
“Friendship…is born at the moment when one… says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .” CS Lewis, The Four Loves.
Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for the gift of friendship. We thank you that Jesus counts us as his friends. Thank you for blessing us with companions in the journey of life. Help us to be a blessing to our friends and help us to continue to be open to new friends in response to your leading in our lives. Amen.