Friends Forever
Last week Jim and I got to spend four days with some of our dearest friends on earth. All of us are in the same age range, and all of us are Christians. We all (three couples) used to live in the same town when Jim was preaching in Missouri, and then we began to be separated by distance when we moved to Kentucky and another couple moved to Alabama.
One thing that never changed was our love for one another and the camaraderie we enjoy when we do get to spend time together. When we can’t be in the same location, we text, do group calls, and send each other silly pictures and funny jokes. Sometimes we send the same thing we’ve sent before, but we just laugh and enjoy it all over again.
Once a year we go on a couples’ retreat at some relaxing place where we can just sit and talk and enjoy each other’s company. That’s where we were last week – in the mountains at a very beautiful and relaxing Bed and Breakfast. We talked, laughed, cried, shared thoughts, discussed problems, acted silly, ate out at wonderful restaurants, shopped a little, and just enjoyed the beauty of the mountains from the back deck of the B&B.
I was with my family. Oh, they aren’t my earthly brothers and sisters. We don’t have the same parents. But to me, they are my brothers and sisters. They love me and listen to me. They are there when I need them. I can depend on them, and they can depend on me.
We sat around on the last night together and one of my brothers said he had something to say to the rest of us. I can’t remember exactly how he worded it, but basically, he told us how important this group of friends was to him and his wife. We all cried and agreed that we all felt the same way. We are family, and we are recognizing that our time together here on earth is limited and growing shorter all of the time. We rejoice in the fact that we can spend eternity together.
These aren’t the only friends we have. We have a congregation full of brothers and sisters in Christ and we feel this same way about many of them. It takes time and work to build friendships and feelings for the people around you. You have to interact with them, work with them, laugh with them and cry with them. You have to recognize their faults (and allow them to recognize yours) and still want to be with them and work with them. We have to recognize that our time with them is also limited.
When I think about these brothers and sisters in Christ, am I willing to overlook some differences of opinion and still work together? Do I want to spend time with them, talking and laughing and crying together? Do I consider them as friends forever? If not, how can I hope to be in heaven with them? Do you think you can live on one side of heaven and they on another? If you can’t talk to them here on earth about differences and feelings, how do you ever expect to be in heaven together?
Living in harmony with brothers and sisters here on earth is a matter of opening God’s word and seeing how we should love one another and treat one another.
Your life will be blessed on earth if you fill it with brothers and sisters who love you and want what is best for you, and if you do the same for them.
“A friend loves at all times…” (Proverbs 17:17 emphasis added).
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AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
