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Good morning my colleagues, good morning Doc. How are you today? How's your relationship with your seatmate going on? A refrigerator is not the coldest part that I've ever experience but it is in front of you.
The center of our study could be found in the book of Proverbs 17:17 (Read). Let's pray...
Have you experienced betrayals in your life that the root cause is your friend? Yes, mostly we experience it in some segments of our lives. Mostly we have a thousand friends on Facebook. My accounts that were banned a year ago have almost 5k friends. But today we will be talking about a friend that would last for eternity.
Explain:
The book of proverbs is one of the most well-known books in terms of sayings. This was penned with 3 different authors. But mostly it was written by King Solomon himself. As we know King Solomon was one of the most epic people in terms of wise saying. he was blessed by God with wisdom. He has 3000 wise sayings. And the book of proverbs attributed to him is poetic, a collection, and a masterpiece of wise sayings.
One of the wise sayings that Solomon wrote was a saying about a good friend. It can be found in chapter 17:17. It read a friend that loveth at all times is a brother in times of need (KJV). This text composes of two clauses which emphasize and fuses the word, friend and brother. Here Solomon wanted to emphasize friendship. This friendship is much higher than a friend that we understand. It is because a friend that we understood doesn't seem to be a brother.
However, this friend that Solomon speaking about is a friend who loves at all times, is a friend who helps in times of need. Further, this wise saying not only emphasizes friendship but it also gives meaning to the word love and trouble.
Prove:
When we look at the text the definition of loveth is the one who helps. However, as we dig deeper into its etymology of the text comes from the word aheb in which is always associated with friend and love. This word occurs 209 times in the old testament. Some of these occurrences took place in Genesis 22:2, which talks about the love of Abraham to Isaac, Genesis 24:67 that talks about the love of Isaac to Rebeccah, Lev. 19:18 talks about loving your neighbor, Deut. 5:10 talks about loving God, 1 kings 5:1 talks about Hiram and David's friendship.
However, we cannot find the measurement of distress/trouble in the book of proverbs but this word gives meaning to the word love. The word distress (tsarah) occurs 73 times in OT. It was always translated as trouble and distress but always associated with calamity but there was one occurrence of this word that could measure how troubled you are. It can be found in the life of Jonah inside the belly of the fish.
Hence, the text emphasis more on the love that Christ mentioned in the new testament. The agape kind of love. this aheb is a synonymous type of love in the NT. Here we could glimpse that Solomon's emphasis of this kind of love is unconditional love. A love that never fades. A love that makes your neighbor as yourself. Aside from that this kind of love is a love that God wants us to possess.
Apply:
We are all friendly people, aren't we?
We are all loving people, aren't we?
Yes, we are loving those who love us.
We are all caring people, aren't we? Yes, we are caring for those who care for us.
We are loving and caring for our enemies, aren't we? No, we don't do that.
Maybe some of us will say I love my enemies but unfortunately only a handful do it sincerely.
In human understanding we love because we are loved, we cared because we have cared. But something is missing we don't do it to those unlovable and neglected so that they may also experience how to be loved and cared for. But the hurting part is we only love those friends of ours in pleasant times. We cared during pleasant days but when calamities strike we are nowhere to be found. Is that truly how we love and care for our friends? Let us remember to be a friend is to be a brother, and to be a brother is to make them also your responsibilities.
All in all the text reminds us about a friend that loves us so much. A brother not just on pleasant days but also in adversity. Yes, we define a friend as the one who helps, the one who spent time, the one who made us happy, the one who encourages, but we don't define a friend that will be with us for a lifetime. We all know that we are all brothers, we are all children of God. As his children and as a brother we must consider others as our responsibilities. To be a brother to somebody is not just to say I care but make that care into action. Betrayals are part of it because we are living in this sin-sick world but remember the wise saying of Solomon who is a God breath message tells us that if we are truly a friend we are at the same time a brother to Him. A friend that loveth unconditionally and a brother in the darkest hour of others lives.
Today, some of us were betrayed but let us remember that there still a friend that loves unconditionally and a brother at all times. A friend of Enoch, A friend of Abraham, and the list goes on. He is our friend that was hanged on the cross that until now he still loves you unconditionally. He hates the sin but loves the sinners. He sustains and blessed you, even though, you don't love and cared for him. His name is Jesus our friend that loves us unconditionally.
Before I will take my seat I will sing a song for you. (Faithful Love)
Do you love your friend? Don't just only click like, comment, and share or twit him/her on Twitter or in real life but love and help him unconditionally. Never forget how Jesus loves and cared for you. He is our Eternal Friend. That is my prayer.