[Nikon D4, 85mm, ISO 2800, ƒ/1.8, 1/100]
This is the season of weddings, one of the highlight events of our time here on earth. Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding, and he used the wedding as a metaphor in his parables.
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
John 3:29
Few people can interrupt whatever I am doing and have my full attention. Each of these people is what I call my closest friend.
You can even tell when someone else is interacting with a close friend. Their mood changes, and you see a glimpse of the joy in their hearts when they interact with their friend.
Jesus talked about what friends will do for one another.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:16
What is so special about friendships that we stop what we do and give our full attention to these relationships?
Forgiveness is at the core of friendship. Tom Peters says corporations should reward people for failure because failure means risk; without risk, there can be no success. In Laura Beth Jones’s book, Jesus CEO, she relates a story:
I was once in a self-discovery group where people were not mincing words. Sitting very stiffly and quietly, one man was a candidate for promotion within his organization. His body language was a picture of caution and fear. Finally, a woman gave him this sound advice: “You must fail a few times. Then you will understand that people will love you even when you are imperfect.”
We have all taken risks with people in the past and have been sorely disappointed by many. We found out who wasn’t our friend for sure. Most of us then learned to take fewer risks so we would not feel the pain of disappointment.
God did not rest until he created humanity in the Garden of Eden. He wanted relationships, and his artistry created us in his likeness to desire them as well.
Reading the Bible, each story centers on the character’s relationship with others and God. God allowed Job to be tested because he knew how strong the association was, to begin with.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[a] and he was called God’s friend.
James 2:23
The footnote in my Bible for “God’s friend” says, “This designation (see 2Ch 20:7) further describes Abraham’s relationship to God as one of complete acceptance.
It has been said that to have a friend, you must be a friend.