Proclamation:
“Greater love hath no man that this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends …” John 15:13-14
(ASV)
Explanation:
These
are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke to His disciples as recorded
under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle John. He told them this after He told them that
they should love one another as He had loved them. (John 15:12)
Application:
We
call a lot of people our friends.
However, most of them are actually more appropriately classified as acquaintances,
associates, classmates, colleagues, or co-workers. Additionally, thanks to social media, we also
have some “friends” who are only internet contacts. Most of us use the term “friend” very loosely.
Jesus referred to His disciples as His
friends and He said that He loved them enough to lay down His life for
them. Most of us would be willing to die
for a loved one or a family member but not necessarily for our “friends.” Think about all of the people you refer to as
your friend and then ask yourself would you be willing to die for them. Jesus loved us enough to die for us. Most of us would not be willing to die for Him. “What a friend we have in Jesus …” As believers in Christ, and as students of
The Word of God, we should value our relationship with The Lord and with each
other. People are allowed to enter our
lives for a reason. Some of them are a
blessing to us which we may not recognize or appreciate during our encounters
with them or at that time. We should
thank God for all of our friends, especially any friend that we love enough to
die for, because that friend is truly a blessing.
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