By Lamont H. Fuchs, Ed. D.,
excerpt from Preacher Spurs Christian Faith Publishers, 2022
Not to brag, but I can cast off a Facebook friend and ‘Unfriend’ somebody in a heartbeat. That does not bother me in the least bit. I do not know them, and I will probably never meet them. Just tick me off, say something bad, or disagree sharply about something I feel strongly about, and that ‘friend’ gets ‘unfollowed’ or ‘snoozed’ at least for 30 days. I sometimes ask – ASK people to unfriend me. I do not compromise on many things, and some Facebook trolls are unnecessary in my life.
But you do not do that to an actual face-to-face friend. I have had many sleepless nights when I have broken up with a real friend for one reason or another. Sometimes I search for old friends I have remembered and lost contact with. I have searched online with those ‘Search Programs’ for high school and military buddies I long to see or talk to again. It is always a good day when you can renew an old friendship or talk to or meet a friend you have not seen in years.
Real friends are treasures, jewels that you cannot throw away with such disregard as the one you might kick to the curb on Facebook.
Friends are partners. Partners are people you work with, struggle with, walk the same path with, and believe in the same mission.
God has always intended we have friends. Genesis 2:18 says, “And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him”.
So, the first friendship other than Adam and God became Adam and Eve.
The Bible gives us numerous examples of friends and partners. Let me name a historical few.
–Moses and Aaron – brothers, yet partners who changed the world and with God created a nation that has affected human history, current history, and the future to come.
–In 1st Samuel, David and Johnathan became friends. Jonathan, the king’s son, so loved David he saved his life against the orders of Saul, his father, and the king.
–In Matthew 10, Jesus sent his disciples out into the world in twos for a reason. You need a partner; you need a friend. The Bible even gives us a splendid example of friends who sharply disagreed, broke up, chose new partners, and later became friends again because of their love and example. Paul and Barnabus.
In Acts 8, we read about Peter and John. They performed remarkable miracles. Later in Acts, we read about Paul and Barnabus, Barnabus and Silas, Judas, and Silas, Barnabus and Mark, Paul and Silas, Paul and Timothy, and there are more.
Partnerships – Jesus’ endorsement of Marriage is a partnership and friendship example. Your spouse should be the second most crucial partnership and friendship in your life. Unhappy is the married couple who are not friends.
Anyone here without a friend? Sometimes we feel that way when we get depressed or when nothing seems to be going right.
Friendships are essential in our lives. God gave His Son so that we could have a friendship, love, and relationship with Him. God created us to be friends with Him. From the garden when Adam and Eve walked and talked with God and throughout history, God made His people, shaped them, and molded them to be His. He wanted their worship, and in return, He blessed their land and their peoples.
