143 Sermon Illustrations on Friendship

Want to be a better friend? A little known Old Testament character can show you how. 1 Chron 27.

Most of don't have friends who are kings or queens. But we do know people who face hardships or discouraging circumstances and need our support.

1. For Want of a Friend. 2 Sam 1:26, 11

2. Burden Bearing. 2 Sam 15-18, 15:32

3. Sacrificially Serving. 2 Sam 15:34

4. Gift Giving. 2 Sam 17:5,8

5. What about us?

"Nine-tenths of wisdom is appreciation. Go find somebody's hand and squeeze it, while there's time."

-- Dale Dauten, from his nationally syndicated column which appeared in

the 4/16/98 Arizona Republic.

"Until we take how we see ourselves (and how we see others) into account, we will be unable to understand how others see and feel about themselves and their world. Unaware, we will project our intentions on their behavior and call ourselves objective."

-- Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

"Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible."

-- Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Thinking Every Day

"Friends are an aid to the young, to guard them from error; to the elderly, to attend to their wants and to supplement their failing power of action; to those in the prime of life, to assist them to noble deeds."

-- Aristotle, from The Forbes Book of Business Quotations:

14,266 Thoughts on the Business of Life

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit."

-- Aristotle, The Book of Positive Quotations

"In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge.

-- Aristotle, The Book of Positive Quotations

"Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies."

-- Aristotle, The Book of Positive Quotations

"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives."

-- Euripides (484-406 B.C.), Greek playwright, B&P 3/18/03

"What is wrong with our world is that love is in short supply."

-- Christopher Bryant; Love and Relationships: Inspirations for Meditation

and Spritual Growth by Eileen Campbell

"Loneliness is the most terrible poverty."

-- Mother Teresa; Body, Mind, and Spirit: Daily Meditations edited by

Kristen Ison

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."

-- Victor Borge; Body, Mind, and Spirit: Daily Meditations edited by

Kristen Ison

"Tolerance and celebration of individual differences is the fire that fuels lasting love."

-- Tom Hannah, Body, Mind and Spirit

"No man is an island, entire of itself;

every man is a piece of the continent,

a part of the main."

-- John Donne; Body, Mind, and Spirit: Daily Meditations edited by

Kristen Ison

"No one has ever done anything too bad to be forgiven."

-- Ruth Sheppard, Body, Mind and Spirit

"The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it."

-- Dale Carnegie, Body, Mind and Spirit

"People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes."

-- Abigail Van Buren, Body, Mind and Spirit

"The mintage of wisdom is to know that rest is rust, and that real life is in love, laughter, and work."

-- Elbert Hubbard, Light from Many Lamps by Lillian Eichler Watson (Editor)

"A friend is a person who knows all about you -- and still likes you."

-- Elbert Hubbard, The Forbes Book of Business Quotations

"In order to have friends, you must first be one."

-- Elbert Hubbard

"We can get mighty rich, but if we haven't any friends, we will find we are poorer than anybody."

-- Will Rogers (1879-1935), humorist, Bits & Pieces, 2/12/02

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."

-- Dale Carnegie, motivational speaker, Quotes From the Masters, 2/13/02

"A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities."

-- William Arthur Ward, educator, Bits & Pieces, 4/24/02

"Under the magnetism of friendship the modest man becomes bold; the shy, confident; the lazy, active; or the impetuous, prudent and peaceful."

-- William Thackeray (1811-1863), writer, Bits & Pieces, 4/24/02

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."

-- George Washington (1732-1799), 1st U.S. President, Bits & Pieces, 4/26/02

"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend."

-- Robert Louis Stevenson, QFTM 5/13/02

"Instead of loving your enemy, treat your friend a little better."

-- Edgar Watson Howe (1853-1937), journalist

"A slight touch of friendly malice and amusement towards those we love keeps our affections for them from turning flat."

-- Logan P. Smith

"Caresses, expressions of one sort or another, are necessary to the life of the affections as leaves are to the life of a tree. If they are wholly restrained, love will die at the roots."

-- Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Affection, like melancholy, magnifies trifles; but the magnifying of the one is like looking through a telescope at heavenly objects; that of the other, like enlarging monsters with a microscope."

-- Leigh Hunt

"I never met a man I didn't like."

-- Will Rogers

"A woman's life is a history of the affections."

-- Washington Irving

"The affections are like lightning: you cannot tell where they will strike till they have fallen."

-- Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

"The moment we indulge our affections, the earth is metamorphosed, there is no winter and no night; all tragedies, all ennuis, vanish,--all duties even."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was wasted."

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success."

-- Oscar Wilde

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one

day, so I never have to live without you.”

-- Winnie the Pooh

“True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known

until it be lost.”

-- Charles Caleb Colton

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks

out.”

“Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.”

“Friends are God’s way of taking care of us.”

“I’ll lean on you and you lean on me and we’ll be okay.”

-- Dave Matthews, band leader

“Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best

friends listen to what you don’t say.”

“My father always used to say that when you die, if you’ve got five real

friends, then you’ve had a great life.”

-- Lee Iacocca

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."

-- George Washington, QFTM 11/15/03

“We make our own friends and we make our own enemies, but God makes our next door neighbors.”

-- G .K. Chesterton

"Treat your friends as you do your pictures; place them in the best light."

-- Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919), artist, cited in BITS & PIECES

"Nobody sees a flower, really - it is so small - we haven't time, and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."

-- Georgia O'Keefe (1887 - 1986), artist, cited in BITS & PIECES

In his book, I KISSED DATING GOODBYE, Joshua Harris describes why as a teen he gave up dating: It was because he believed that dating relationships are inherently unhealthy.

Well, you may ask, "How else do I go about meeting and marrying the person of my dreams?"

Harris, now happily married, suggests a series of steps that people can take to explore whether a friendship with someone of the opposite sex should lead to courtship and perhaps marriage.

When we meet someone special, he says, we should first seek a deeper friendship. Although romance may seem more exciting, "it can also foster illusion and infatuation, obscuring the true character of each person."

Instead of dropping regular routines in order to spend time together, the couple should "find activities that pull [them] both into each other's world of family, friends, work, ... and ministry." During this period of deepening friendship, flirting and "love talk" should be avoided.

Both parties should then consult parents and trusted advisors about the advisability of moving beyond friendship. These mentors can help ask the hard questions, like: "Am I mature enough to marry?" "Am I able to support a wife?" Or, "Am I attracted to his looks or to his character?"

As you consider your choice for a life partner, four "green lights" can help identify whether to stop the relationship or keep on going. First: Is this person a Christian? Second: Do you have a realistic vision of what life-long marriage is all about? Third: Does your romance meet with the approval of parents and godly friends?

If you think you're ready for marriage, but no one else does, that's a red light, and you may need to reconsider. And fourth: Do you have a sense of God's peace about your plans? Or do you feel apprehensive?

If all the lights are green, Harris writes, the man should tell the woman, "We're growing closer in friendship ... and with your permission, I want to explore the possibility of marriage. I'm ready to be tested by you [and] your family. My desire is to win your heart."

When a couple agrees to move forward, they enter into a time the author calls "principled romance," the testing and heart-winning stage of courtship. They ought to look for activities that allow them to spend time together among family and friends. They may also spend some limited time alone together in appropriate settings.

After that, it's time to fish or cut bait: To get engaged, or perhaps break off the relationship.

The proposals in this book may sound Victorian, but they indeed offer a refreshing contrast to today's secular approach to dating and marriage.

While Joshua Harris is still very young -- in his early twenties -- he has achieved some remarkable insights into love and courtship. And this book helps us understand why the Song of Solomon warns us "not to awaken love until it is ready." Love too soon may bring grief instead of the joy God intends.

___________________

Copyright (c) 2000 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

MG and Mrs. Arbuckle forward -

1. In kindergarten your idea of a good friend was the person who let you

have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly black one.

2. In first grade your idea of a good friend was the person who went to

the bathroom with you and held your hand as you walked through the scary

halls.

3. In second grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped

you stand up to the class bully.

4. In third grade your idea of a good friend was the person who shared

their lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus.

5. In fourth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who was

willing to switch square dancing partners in gym so you wouldn't have to be

stuck do-si-do-ing with Nasty Nicky or Smelly Susan.

6. In fifth grade your idea of a friend was the person who saved a seat

on the back of the bus for you.

7. In sixth grade your idea of a friend was the person who went up to

Nick or Susan, your new crush, and asked them to dance with you, so that if

they said no you wouldn't have to be embarrassed.

8. In seventh grade your idea of a friend was the person who let you copy

the social studies homework from the night before that you had.

9. In eighth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped

you pack up your stuffed animals and old baseball cards so that your room

would be a "high schooler's" room, but didn't laugh at you when you

finished and broke out into tears.

10. In ninth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who went to

that "cool" party thrown by a senior so you wouldn't wind up being the only

freshman there.

11. In tenth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who changed

their schedule so you would have someone to sit with at lunch.

12. In eleventh grade your idea of a good friend was the person who gave

you rides in their new car, convinced your parents that you shouldn't be

grounded, consoled you when you broke up with Nick

or Susan, and found you a date to the prom.

13. In twelfth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped

you pick out a college, assured you that you would get into that college,

helped you deal with your parents who were having a hard time adjusting to

the idea of letting you go...

14. At graduation your idea of a good friend was the person who was crying

on the inside but managed the biggest smile one could give as they

congratulated you.

15. The summer after twelfth grade your idea of a good friend was the

person who helped you clean up the bottles from that party, helped you sneak

out of the house when you just couldn't deal with your parents, assured you

that now that you and Nick or you and Susan were back together, you could

make it through anything, helped you pack up for college and just silently

hugged you as you looked through blurry eyes at 18 years of memories you

were leaving behind, and finally on those last days of childhood, went out

of their way to give you reassurance that you would make it in college as

well as you had these past 18 years, and most

importantly sent you off to college knowing you were loved.

16. Now, your idea of a good friend is still the person who gives you the

better of the two choices, hold your hand when you're scared, helps you

fight off those who try to take advantage of you, thinks of you at times

when you are not there, reminds you of what you have forgotten, helps you

put the past behind you but understands when you need to hold on to it a

little longer, stays with you so that you have confidence, goes out of their

way to make time for you, helps you clear up your mistakes, helps you deal

with pressure from others, smiles for you when they are sad, helps you

become a better person, and most importantly loves you!

There's never a wrong time to pick up a phone or send a message telling

your friends how much you miss them or how much you love them.

If you love someone, tell them. Remember always to say what you mean. Never

be afraid to express yourself. Take this opportunity to tell someone what

they mean to you. Seize the day and have no regrets. Most importantly, stay

close to your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person

that you are today and are what it's all about anyway. Pass this along to

your friends. Let it make a difference in your day and theirs. The

difference between expressing love and having regrets is that the regrets

may stay around forever.

1. A number of years ago the following ad was placed in a Midwestern newspaper: “I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without a comment for $5.00.” Sounds like a scam, doesn't it? It was not. Person placing ad received 10-20 calls a day.

2. Paul Tournier tells of a Swiss woman who lived in a large apartment house and worked with many people. Each evening she tuned in to the sign-off of the radio station just to hear a voice say, “We wish you a very pleasant good night.” She imagined that voice speaking just to her.

3. Loneliness. It's not uncommon. The world is full of Eleanor Rigbys. Thomas Wolfe: “The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and a few other solitary men, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.”

FRIENDSHIP

Claude Flynn

It was Shakespeare who said, "Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoopes of steel."

A nine year study of 9,000 Californians revealed that people with friends enjoy better health, live longer, are happier and find greater fulfillment in life.

The greatest friend that one can have is God. It was said of Abraham that he was the friend of God (James 2:23). Jesus said, "You are My friend if you do whatsoever I command you" (John 15:14). We can truly say with the songwriter "What a friend we have in Jesus."

* He Is A Loving Friend (Pr. 17:7)

* He Is A Lasting Friend (Pr. 18:24)

* He Is A Living Friend (Pr. 27:17)

* He Is A Lifting Friend (Mt. 11:19)

* He Is A Listening Friend (Ex. 33:11)

One of the great definitions of a friend is, "Some who is coming in when everyone else is going out." That's Jesus!

--via The Bible Voice, Rogersville, AL

Subject: Picking Out Pallbearers

Date: For the Week of August 16, 1999

No, I haven't received a terminal diagnosis other than life. And I have no scientific reason to think my death is imminent though who knows if I will die before this piece gets read by anyone? These are not the things that have me contemplating pallbearers today. It is the offhand comment of an acquaintance last week.

"I've really had my priorities all screwed up for the past several years," he said. "I've worked hard and made a lot of money. My family life is in pretty good shape. But I've cut myself off from so many people who wanted to be my friends. Now it has dawned on me that I have scores of acquaintances but hardly any bona fide friends. I'm not even sure I could name enough people to be pallbearers at my funeral who could say we were really friends. I wonder if it's too late to change that?"

His comment wasn't made in a tone of self-pity. It was simple acknowledgment. It was also something of a confession. And it was on-target too.

What about you? Try this little thought experiment: Name six people who are close enough friends that you would be willing to trust them with your deepest, darkest secret. They must be people you would spontaneously think to call about a serious problem in your business, professional, family, or personal life. They must be persons from whom you would hide nothing. If you have such people in your life, their names should come to mind quickly and easily.

If you have any doubt that the people you named are really your friends, ask yourself the question in reverse: Do these people trust me with their deepest, darkest secrets? Have they turned to you for compassion, encouragement, and help when things were difficult in their lives? Can you see yourself being asked by their families to be pallbearers at their funerals?

There is a Bible verse at Proverbs 18:24 that is difficult to translate. In the King James Version, it reads: "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." The New Revised Standard Version renders it this way: "Some friends play at friendship but a true friend sticks closer than one's nearest kin."

People who don't value friendships won't form any. And the key to having friends really is as simple as being genuinely friendly — caring, encouraging, ready to help others in their tough times. By all means, don't play at friendship.

You'll need pallbearers someday. I hope it will be an easy task to identify them.

"The New Testament records tell of forty people, each suffering from some disease, who had been healed by Jesus. Of this number, thirty-four were either brought to Jesus by friends or Jesus was taken to them. In only six cases out of forty did sufferers find their way to Christ without assistance."

-- the late Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, quoted in SWORD

The Boston Globe recently reported that “a number of scholars are seeking to shore up friendship in a surprising way: by granting it legal recognition.” The article posits a couple of different ways this could be done. One is “on a case-by-case basis — eligibility to take time off to care for a sick friend under an equivalent of the Family and Medical Leave Act, for example.”

Yet another might be “an official legal arrangement between two friends, designating a bundle of mutual rights and privileges.” The article points out that such arrangements are already permitted in Hawaii. In any case, the idea would be that friends could get the kind of rights and benefits traditionally granted to married couples.

As our writers at The Point commented about this story, this was bound to happen. You see, the relentless push for benefits for same-sex partners has eroded the status of marriage in our society. Instead of being honored as the bedrock of healthy families and civilization, marriage has come to be seen as just one more relationship, no different than any other, with no particular benefits, and no more deserving of privileges than any other.

So if a same-sex couple can have benefits, why can’t two friends? Why couldn’t a whole group of friends?

Already this line of thinking has created some ludicrous situations. A couple of years ago, University of Florida employees wanting to qualify for domestic partner health benefits had to pledge that they were actually having sexual relations with their partner! The irony is hard to miss. The same people that have clamored for years for the authorities to stay out of their bedrooms; and they’re now creating situations where employers are forced to intrude.

The University of Florida situation was ridiculous — but it was the logical result of employers realizing how much they’d have to shell out if domestic partnerships became widespread. How else could they be fair and politically correct and not go bankrupt?

Of course, there’s even more to worry about here than companies bearing a heavier financial burden, or being forced to pry into their employees’ most intimate lives. As the Globe puts it, “Skeptics hold that friendship should stay outside the law for its own sake — do we really want friends with red tape?”

Advocates of friendship benefits contend that friendships are increasingly important and beneficial in our modern society, where so many other ties seem to be weakening. And they have a point.

But not every important relationship in our lives needs government involvement to show its importance. And such involvement would be likely to lead to major headaches and entanglements for the participants themselves. Law professor Laura Rosenbury told the Globe, “There is a danger that the state could go from recognizing to regulating friendship.” Well, you can bet on that.

All of this shows just how clueless we’ve become about the true nature of marriage. Instead of a divinely ordained institution that forms the foundation of a healthy society, marriage has simply become a government-subsidized arrangement. And in the name of tolerance and fairness, that arrangement and its legal benefits might one day be extended to all kinds of human relationships.

The result would be not to make friendship stronger, but to continue to make marriage — and all of society — weaker. And, not to mention, government far larger than we could tolerate.

________

Copyright (c) 2008 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

*

[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

TWO MEN were journeying together. One of them picked up an axe that

lay upon the path, and said, "I have found an axe." "Nay, my friend,"

replied the other, "do not say 'I,' but 'We' have found an axe." They

had not gone far before they saw the owner of the axe pursuing them,

and he who had picked up the axe said, "We are undone." "Nay,"

replied the other, "keep to your first mode of speech, my friend; what

you thought right then, think right now. Say 'I,' not 'We' are

undone."

Don't be surprised if your worldly friends should be the first ones to

betray you.

A MOUSE who always lived on the land, by an unlucky chance formed an

intimate acquaintance with a Frog, who lived for the most part in the

water. The Frog, one day intent on mischief, bound the foot of the

Mouse tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the Frog first of all

led his friend the Mouse to the meadow where they were accustomed to

find their food. After this, he gradually led him towards the pool in

which he lived, until reaching the very brink, he suddenly jumped in,

dragging the Mouse with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly,

and swam croaking about, as if he had done a good deed. The unhappy

Mouse was soon suffocated by the water, and his dead body floated

about on the surface, tied to the foot of the Frog. A Hawk observed

it, and, pouncing upon it with his talons, carried it aloft. The

Frog, being still fastened to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried

off a prisoner, and was eaten by the Hawk.

Be careful who your friends are. Indeed, just as a frog and a mouse

cannot be friends, neither can Christians and non-Christians be

friends.

AN ASS feeding in a meadow saw a Wolf approaching to seize him, and

immediately pretended to be lame. The Wolf, coming up, inquired the

cause of his lameness. The Ass replied that passing through a hedge

he had trod with his foot upon a sharp thorn. He requested that the

Wolf pull it out, lest when he ate him it should injure his throat.

The Wolf consented and lifted up the foot, and was giving his whole

mind to the discovery of the thorn, when the Ass, with his heels,

kicked his teeth into his mouth and galloped away. The Wolf, being

thus fearfully mauled, said, "I am rightly served, for why did I

attempt the art of healing, when my father only taught me the trade of

a butcher?'

If Christians are not careful whom they associate with, it could come

back to haunt them and destroy them.

Thomas Samson was a Welsh miner. Each day, he put in long, hard hours at the mine-his life in constant danger-just to earn a meager wage.

One day, the foreman of the mine came to him and said, “Thomas, I’ve found an easier job for you above ground, You’ll have less to do and earn more money. Are you interested?

“Oh, yes.” Said Thomas, “I’m very interested, sir. But, would you consider giving the job to my friend Tregony instead? He isn’t as strong as I am and he’s not able to work as hard as I can. I fear the work below in the mine will shorten his life and I will lose my friend. Might he have this job?” The foreman was moved by Thomas’ generosity and gave the job to Tregony.

Thomas continued to work hard, and when another above-ground position opened, the foreman again approached Thomas about the job. This time, he accepted the offer. Thomas and Tregony went on to work side-by-side for two decades.

________

Source: 3ABN eNews, http://www.3abn.org

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1578]

Do you recall the story of Job, who faced one calamity after another? He lost his health, his wealth, and finally, his children. As he pondered his plight in pain, three of his friends came to comfort him. They had their speeches prepared, but one brief glimpse of Job’s pitiful state left them rather speechless. The irony of the rest of the story is that they were at their wisest and best when they were silent. When they started to speak, their smooth canned answers only poured salt on the wounds of Job.

The first friend to open his mouth was Eliphaz, who heartlessly condemned Job for probably reaping what he had sown.

One can only imagine what Job felt while Eliphaz waxed eloquent about this attack upon Job’s integrity. So Job snapped back and said:

"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends."

Sometimes, sadly, as author Flannery O’Connor wrote when she herself was struggling with lupus: "Sickness is a place... where there’s no company, where nobody can follow."(1)

Not so, when the friend you call upon is Jesus Christ. He offers not just words, but His presence. We see in His offer for strength that He Himself bore human suffering in his own flesh. Jesus walked the path of suffering and showed us how you can be in the will of God, even when God seems so distant. Why is that? Because the greatest of all suffering, of course, is to be separated from God Himself. When we return to fellowship with Him all other suffering finds a starting point for explanation.

Let me ask you this, friend, what are you facing today? Or let me put it this way: are you perhaps, like Eliphaz, trying to be a friend to one in need? Do not underestimate the value of your presence near one who is hurting, and please do not despair because you may not know what to say. Sometimes, your caring presence is all one needs at their moment of grief.

The message of Jesus is not one of stereotypical platitudes or of detached condemnation. He has promised that He is near those who seek Him and a present help in the time of suffering. You will find in Him a friend on whom you can cast all your care.

_________________________

1. Mike Mason, The Gospel According to Job (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994), 84.

_________________________

Copyright © 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

I heard of a minister once who preached a sermon of the recognition

of friends in heaven. He came down the aisle, and a lady put out her

hand and said, "Sir, I thank you very much for that sermon. Now I wish

you would preach a sermon on the recognition of friends on earth, for

I have been attending church here three years, and nobody has spoken

to me." --Albert P. Graves

Our English word friend comes from the same root as the word freedom. A genuine friend sets us free to be who and what we are. We can pour out our doubts and talk freely about the wolves howling at the door of our life.

A faithful friend also affirms our worth. Queen Victoria said of William Gladstone, "When I am with him, I feel I am with one of the most important leaders in the world." But of Benjamin Disraeli she said, "He makes me feel as if I am one of the most important leaders of the world."

A barbarian prince once came to Athens seeking to place himself

under Cimon, the Athenian admiral who had consolidated Athens's

supremacy over the other Greek cities. To ensure his welcome the

prince brought two vessels -- one filled with gold pieces and the

other with silver -- and placed them before Cimon's door. Cimon

looked at them and smiled, "Would you prefer to have me as your

mercenary or as your friend?" he asked.

"As my friend," replied the man.

"Go," Cimon replied, "and take these things away with you. For if

I am your friend, your money will be mine whenever I have need of it."

--Moody

Heraclea, in ancient Greece, was noted for its honey. Beyond all

other honey, it was sweet to the taste and exhilarating to him who ate

it. But this was because it was poisoned by the juice of aconite. So,

there are friends who entertain and thrill and excite, but like

Heraclea's honey, have deadly poison in them.

In the life of Robert Burns, we can trace the evil influence of the

wrong kind of friends. At the age of nineteen he fell in with some

rough fast young men in a nearby town. There was one unprincipled

youth in particular who exerted a strong fascination over Burns. Burns

said of him, "He was the only man I ever knew who was a greater fool

than myself when woman was the presiding star. But he spoke of lawless

love, with a levity which hitherto I had regarded with horror."

There is a Bible verse which says: "There is a friend that sticketh

closer than a brother." (\reference{Prov. 18:24}{Proverbs 18:24}) That

is saying a great deal, for a good brother will stick through thick

and thin.

In a battle in Scotland, there were two brothers in the same

regiment. Their army was beaten and was leaving the field. One of the

brothers lay on the ground desperately wounded; but the other brother,

also wounded, was still able to walk. Disregarding the entreaties of

his brother, that he leave him to die and flee with the others, he

stooped down and lifted him to his back and thus left the field. By

and by, the warmth of the body of the brother who carried him revived

the spirit and strength of the unconscious one; but the brother who

carried him, when he had reached a place of safety, staggered and fell

dead beneath him. One brother had given his life for another. Yet, we

are told that there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

--McCartney

A clergyman visiting in the sick wards of a workhouse in a crowded

city was asked by one of the nurses to say a word to a sick man whose

bed was near the door of the ward. He said, "With pleasure, nurse, but

he is asleep." "No," she said, "he is dying." The clergyman went to

the bed and noticed the namecard at the bed-head. "Robert Browning,

aged seventy-one; no friends." "What does this mean, nurse?" he asked.

"Just what it says," she answered. "If he dies tonight we do not know

anyone who knows him. Do speak to him." The clergyman bent over the

bed and quietly said, "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a

believer's ear." In a moment the closed eyes opened, and a joyous

whisper was heard. "Yes, Jesus is my Saviour, my Friend." "No

friends," said the card; but the poor man claimed the friendship of

the matchless Son of God. The promise of this ever-present,

never-failing Friend is sure: "And even to your old age I am He; and

even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear;

even I will carry, and will deliver you!" (\reference{Isa.

46:4}{Isaiah 46:4}) --W. B. K.

I recently came across what I believed to be an all too familiar report of a death of a young man by drug overdose. But in reality, his death was disturbingly unfamiliar. Twenty-one year old Brandon died in the privacy of a chat room full of his friends who watched by web-cam as he killed himself with drugs and alcohol. Some even rallied him on. The sarcastic tone of their conversation is disquieting. One voice cheered him to pass out on screen; he responded with his phone number: “Call if I look dead,” he said. But even after he passed out, they spoke as if he was something less than real. “He's dead,” said someone. “Happy trails,” said another. “Should I call 911?” “No!” they all agreed.

Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. writes in shock of Brandon's story and what seems to be the telltale signs of yet another failed community: the virtual community. The very community, he reminds us, we were promised at “the dawn of the Internet Age, the one that would link all humankind in brotherhood, sisterhood, enlightenment.” [1] Such connectedness clearly failed young Brandon. Even if his “friends” had called for help, Pitts notes, they didn't even know his real name.

If truth be told, beneath the promises of our successfully linked world, a poignant undertow of despair is noticeably emerging. We are living in a lonely world. We are living in a very needy world. And the need for true community and meaningful connectedness has never been more piercingly heard and severely felt. When the diaries of the famed atheist, Madeline Murray O'Hare, were auctioned off several years ago, they found three times punctuated in her journals the words: “Will somebody somewhere please love me? Will somebody somewhere please love me?”

What heart is not stirred at those words? Truly, our longing for meaningful connections is real. But now listen to the peculiar words of Jesus Christ speaking of connections of the heart, soul, and mind. Jesus once held a child in front of his followers and said, “Become like this. Become like children, for the kingdom belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 18:3 paraphrased) Why would He say that?

G.K. Chesterton, the brilliant thinker who said he learned more by watching children than any philosophy book, once observed that children have in their ownership the obscure idea of loyalty even to an object. The child who has gone to bed without his toy does not only feel that he is sad without it. He also feels that in some transcendental way the toy is sad without him.

You see, connections and unity are most genuine in a child because the mind has not yet been deterred by suspicion, disappointment, and pride. Jesus says be like that child, and you will find the Kingdom of God; the very Community you were created to be a part of, the Reality that brings meaning into every area of life.

Moreover, the most meaningful connection we can understand is the connection between the living God and his created children. He is the Shepherd willing to leave the flock to go out searching for the one who has strayed. Indeed, the arms of Christ were out-stretched with you in mind. There is no greater love than this.

____________

1. Detroit Free Press, “Another link to connect us doesn't work.” Feb. 12, 2003.

____________

Copyright © 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #13650]

Friendship depends on mutual care and a sense of trust. Old

friends are as comfortable as our favorite pair of shoes. New ones

are as exciting as the best of life's adventures. And best of all,

having friends gives us the privilege of being a friend.

- Source Unknown

It is easy to treat people as means to an end rather than as ends

in themselves. As a gregarious man once boasted, "I have friends I

haven't even used yet."

QUOTES on RELATIONSHIPS [see also Quotes on FRIENDSHIP]

=======================

In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.

-- Brian Tracy

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive.

-- Anais Nin

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call to make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

-- Stephen Levine

You can have everything in life you want if you'll just help enough other people to get what they want!

-- Zig Ziglar

Friends are made by many acts ... and lost by only one. -- Harvey Mackay

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.

-- Og Mandino

One person caring about another represents life's greatest value.

-- Jim Rohn

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

-- Carl W. Buechner

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded."

-- Maya Angelou

"He will never have true friends who is afraid of making enemies."

-- William Hazlitt

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

-- Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow;

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead;

Walk beside me, and just be my friend."

-- Albert Camus, QFTM 2/22/03

"No medicine is more valuable, none more efficacious, none better suited to the cure of all our temporal ills than a friend to whom we may turn for consolation in time of trouble, and with whom we may share our happiness in time of joy."

Saint Ailred of Rivaulx (1109 - 1166)

Historian and abbot

Cited in BITS & PIECES