By Rodney Reynolds
Your Pastor Speaks
If you have ever been asked, “Who is your best friend?” immediately you think of the person that you consider your truest friend.
I remember distinctly when my closest friend in life passed away in an accident two decades ago now. If you have a friend that you trust with your life, you are most fortunate!
In the bible, the book of Proverbs, chapter 18 verse 24, makes the following statement.
“The man of too many friends (chosen indiscriminately) will be broken in pieces and come to ruin,
But there is a (true, loving) friend who (is reliable and) sticks closer than a brother.”
We can learn here that we should choose our friends prayerfully, carefully and perhaps even sparingly. The company we keep will make us better or will be a detriment to us. We all need a few friends and we also need to be sure we are being a true-friend.
Garth Brooks hit song, “Friends in low places” is a catchy tune but not a great idea.
A good principle to follow is to choose friends on a higher shelf, and then be a friend to someone who is struggling and down.
One of our largest insurance providers has a mantra “And like a good neighbor State Farm is there!” We can also take from this that not everybody is a good neighbor. All of us who are city dwellers live in neighborhoods. Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I a good neighbor?”
My neighbors are great! They are friendly, thoughtful and pleasant. I am hopeful that they think the same of me.
In the Gospel of Saint Luke chapter ten verses 25-28 ESV, we find an interesting dialogue between Jesus and an influential man. It reads as follows:
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Jesus instructs here that we should treat our neighbors like we want them to treat us. Then the man asked Jesus yet another question, “And who is my neighbor he asked?”
Jesus proceeds to further answer the question, “And who is my neighbor?”
With the following story of the good Samaritan in the same chapter of the scripture.
The story describes a man that was beaten, robbed and left bleeding along the roadway. There he lay in desperate need of rescue only to be passed over by not one, but two prominent religious leaders. As the Priest and then the Levite both went on their way, too busy to care, the “good-Samaritan” stopped, rescued and paid for the man’s lodging and restoration back to health. Jesus asked the inquisitive lawyer, who would you say was a good neighbor here? The lawyer noted that only one of the three showed the beaten man mercy. Jesus clearly stated, go and do likewise.
My three-year-old granddaughter loves to play Daniel Tiger Neighborhood with me her Papa. I love it when she has me knock on the clear glass door of our sunroom. She then proceeds to open the door with the greeting, HI NEIGHBOR!
To which I respond, hello neighbor. We then have a most delightful visit in our neighborhood. We have a lot to learn from Jesus and the children! The people we encounter everyday are in need of us all to be good neighbors.
With a little for effort we can make a big difference for our friends, neighbors and all others!
Reynolds is the pastor at Solid Rock Church on state Route 29 in Sidney. He can be reached at [email protected].
