Real Friends

I need real friends.

You need real friends.

Real friends are people who care about us, easily forgive us and want the best for us.  They are the people in our lives who cheer us on in the good times and listen well with extra tissues ready during the bad times.

I am fortunate enough to have several real friends in my life.

These friends love me enough to speak up if I'm getting off track.  They hold me accountable for behavior that is not good for me.  They subtly (and not so subtly) ask questions about my choices when my behavior is not going to help me reach the goals they know I want to achieve.

They love me enough to speak truth into my life at the right time.

These friends also have shared this journey of faith with me.  They have walked beside me as, together, we experience the transforming power of God in our lives.  They continue to encourage  me as God molds me into the person he created me to be and they celebrate with me when I find victory in my life through my relationship with God.

They help bring me to Jesus.

This is just like the four men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus in the second chapter of Mark.  Their friend couldn't move, so his four friends carried him around on a mat.  They heard that this man, Jesus, was healing people - even paralyzed people - so they were determined to get their friend to Jesus.

You might think they would have been discouraged when they arrived and saw the huge crowd of people around the house that Jesus was in.  They didn't care - this was their friend and this was going to happen....today.....right now.

So they carried their friend on his mat up to the top of the house and dug a hole in the roof right over Jesus' head.  Then they lowered the mat down in front of Jesus.

Seeing the faith of his friends, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, " Stand up, pick up your mat and go home.  And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat and walked through the stunned onlookers."  (Mark 2: 11-12)

Jesus honored the faith of this man's friends and healed him by the touch of his hand.

I know I have some friends who need to get to Jesus.

Do you?

Are we good enough friends to do everything we can to get them close enough to be touched by our Savior?