I mentioned this to Jesse just this morning that we have to protect ourselves from those in the world. We have to protect ourselves from those we call our friends. I don't mean, not to be nice or even friendly with those in the world but, we have to protect ourselves from those that say they are our friends.
Think about it. If a person offered you drugs because they are taking drugs, are they you friends? You might say yes. Look at this way, if they handed you a gun and asked you to place it to your head and fire would you think that he or she is still your friend? OH but that's different. In ways yes and in ways no. What that friend is giving you is slow death or a life that could end down the drains. As mentioned my sister hit rock bottom because of drugs. She didn't pick it up on her own, a Friend gave it to her.
Friends are people we like to talk to and spend time with. But it is important to have the right kind of friends. Who do you think is the best friend we can have? Yes, Jehovah God.
Can we really be friends of God? Well, the Bible says that Abraham, was Jehovah’s friend. Do you know why he was? The Bible answers that Abraham obeyed God. He obeyed even when what he was asked to do was hard. So to be Jehovah’s friend, we must do what pleases him, just as Abraham did and just as the Great Teacher Jesus has always done.
Jesus told his apostles: You are my friends if you do what I am commanding you. Did he not? Take a look at John chapter 15 verse 14. Since everything that Jesus told people came from Jehovah, Jesus was saying that his friends were people who did what God said they should do. Yes, all his friends loved God.
Some of the closest friends of the Great Teacher Jesus were his apostles.They traveled with him and helped him do the preaching work. Jesus spent much of his time with these men. They ate together. They talked about God together. But Jesus had many other friends. He would stay with them, and they had good times together.
One family that Jesus liked to stay with lived in the small town of Bethany, just outside the big city of Jerusalem. These were Mary and Martha and their brother, Lazarus. Jesus called Lazarus his friend. The reason Jesus loved this family and enjoyed being with them was that they loved Jehovah and served Him.
This does not mean that Jesus was not kind to people who did not serve God. He was. He even went to their homes and ate with them. This caused some to say that Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners. The fact is that Jesus didn’t go to the homes of these people because he liked the way they lived. He visited them so that he could talk to them about Jehovah. He tried to help them to change from their bad ways and to serve God.
This happened one day in the city of Jericho. Jesus was just passing through on his way to Jerusalem. There was a crowd of people, and in the crowd was a man named Zacchaeus. He wanted to get a look at Jesus. But Zacchaeus was short, and he could not see because of the crowd. So he ran ahead along the road and climbed a tree in order to get a good look when Jesus went by.
When Jesus came to that tree, he looked up and said: Hurry and get down, for today I will come to your house. But Zacchaeus was a rich man who had done bad things. Why did Jesus want to go to the house of such a man?
It was not because Jesus liked the way that man lived. He went there to talk to Zacchaeus about God. He saw how that man had tried hard to see him. So he knew that Zacchaeus would probably listen. This was a good time to talk to him about the way that God says people should live.
Zacchaeus likes the teachings of Jesus. He feels very sorry for having cheated people, and he is promising to give back money that he had no right to take. Then he becomes a follower of Jesus. Only then do Jesus and Zacchaeus become friends. You can read more about that account at Luke chapter 19 verse 1-10.
If we learn from the Great Teacher Jesus, will we ever visit people who are not our friends? Yes. But we won’t go to their house because we like the way they live. And we won’t do wrong things with them. We will visit them so that we can talk to them about God.
But our close friends are the ones we especially like to spend time with. To be the right kind of friends, they must be the kind that God likes. Some may not even know who Jehovah is. And when the time comes that they love Jehovah as we do, then we can become even closer friends. We become Brothers & Sisters
There is another way to find out if a person would make a good friend. Watch the things that he or she does. Does he do unkind things to other people and then laugh about it? That’s not right, is it? Maybe it's watching an elderly woman fall and he or she laughs instead of helping that elderly woman to her feet. Maybe laughs instead of asking if that elderly woman is ok. If that was your mom how would you feel if you saw someone laughing? Or Is he or she always getting into trouble? We wouldn’t want to get into trouble along with that person, would we? Or does he or she do bad things on purpose and then think that he is smart because he didn’t get caught?
Even if that person didn’t get caught, God saw what he did, didn’t He? Do you think that people who do such things would be good friends for us to have? Why not get your Bible? Notice what it says about how our companions affect our lives. The scripture is at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 33. It reads: Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits. This means that if we go with bad people, we may become bad. And it is also true that good companions help us to form good habits.
Let’s never forget that the most important Person in our life is Jehovah. We don’t want to spoil our friendship with him. So we must be careful to make friends with only those who love God and with those who won't do us harm or cause us to get in trouble.
Before I became who I am today, I had many friends. I made choices in life that landed me in jail. I did drugs, I was drunk most of the time, and I was very abusive in my speech. I even have two DUI's on my record. All of these things were done when I was younger. My life changed when I received a knock on the door. I was raised catholic but and normally I would have just closed the door. I thought to myself, how can you close a door to someone who wants to talk about God? Her name was Becky and she started talking to my wife first and then I started to listen.
It was as if someone removed what was blocking my eyes and now I can see clearly. Because of this I changed. Because of that change I had to give up those friends who I knew would cause me harm spiritually. It doesn't mean I wasn't friendly toward them. I was but it meant that I wouldn't do things with them that dealt with drugs or alcohol. I struggled a bit with Alcohol but I won that battle. I didn't struggle with drugs or newport cigs. I won that battle as well. Last thing that any of my friends wanted was someone to come up to them who used to drink and do drugs with them, last thing they wanted was for me to talk about God. I couldn't help it. They thought I was preaching which I was but I looked at is as I'm trying to help save them because I love them.
I lost them and then all of them turned on me and started to talk bad about me and didn't like it when I came around because all I did was talk about God. I kept my distance and as I grew spiritually, I became a better husband. My wife became a better wife. After 20 years my wife and I are very much in love. We are very happy and we are thankful that Jehovah came into our lives. I honestly believe that if it wasn't for him. I would not be with my wife today. I would not have the children I do today. I would be in jail or with the same friends or even dead because of the drugs that were given to me or those that I purchased. I thank Jehovah for being there and for listening and most of all being my friend, my father, my teacher. I thank him for keeping me in line which allowed all the pieces to fall in it's place.
Because of Jehovah he not only gave me life now and promises everlasting life in the future, he also gave me so many brothers and sisters that I can depend on. Millions of shoulders that I can cry on or lean on. Millions of shoulders all over the world who share in the same faith. Millions who are united and of course Millions who love Jehovah.
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