THE BLESSING OF FRIENDSHIP
THE BLESSING OF FRIENDSHIP
Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are…
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with…
Show me your friends and I will show you your future…
From old sayings, to Jim Rohn and Dan Pena, the message is the same, our relationships matter because they influence our lives one way or another.
There is a song we sing that goes like this:
Abraham’s blessings are mine
Abraham’s blessings are mine
I am blessed in the morning I am blessed in the evening
Abraham’s blessings are mine.
The words of this song were inspired from scripture: “That the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise through faith.” Galatians 3:14 KJV
And then I began to think about the blessings: what exactly are these blessings of Abraham? I thought to myself that it would be nice to know them so that I could claim and receive them for myself. Well, I found some very obvious blessings; which were wealth and riches like silver, gold, cattle and land. These are all nice to have and I did not hesitate to claim them for myself. The more I meditated on the blessings of Abraham, my eyes became open to the more subtle blessings like longevity and the renewal of youth. Then a light bulb suddenly went off in my head as I remembered that God had called Abraham His friend. “But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.” Isaiah 41:8 KJV That to me was a very uncommon blessing yet the greatest blessing of all. Here on earth, how many people do we call our friends? I do not mean fair weather friends because we have a whole lot of them around. I am talking about friends indeed. The ones with whom your secret is safe; the ones you can tell anything or ask anything from; you can whine or rant to them when something or someone upsets you. Yet even friends like the ones I have just described can still betray you.
If God calls Abraham His friend, then we are His friends too. That is blessing Promax! The greatest priviledge ever! To be a friend of the God who made the heavens and the whole earth. We never have to worry about betrayal. He is a faithful father and friend. “A faithful friend is a strong defense: and he that hath found such a one hath found a treasure.” He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother: “There are ‘friends’ who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 NLT
God is the friend that we need not wear any masks with. We can bare it all and He will never judge or condemn us. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 NIV
Finally Jesus affirms that we are friends when He says “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his masters business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15 NIV
Dear friends, the blessings of Abraham will not be complete without including his friendship with God. Friendship means unhindered access. And though unhindered it should never be treated with levity or taken for granted. We must honour God inspite of the fact that He is our friend. “The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” Psalms 25:14 ESV I am excited about this. I never saw it this way but knowing this now gives me such joy and peace. I have a Father and I have a friend that I can go directly to as a confidant.
This friendship is a blessing and a priviledge and it is already influencing my life in monumental proportions. I do not take it for granted.
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS©