“Because Always He Bes My Friend!”

 

“Who then is the one who condemns? No one…”

—Romans 8:34a

An exasperated teacher pulls two little boys aside in class and asks, “Why do you two boys always insist on sitting next to each other?”

Tommy speaks for both of them when he sheepishly replies, “Because sometimes Eddie bes my friend!”

I have always cherished the word “friend.” Perhaps I have cherished it inordinately. I have said in the past, “I have many acquaintances, but only a few real friends.”

That probably seems strange to some and downright offensive to others. I do admit to being more than a little “strange.” But, I most certainly do not intend to offend anyone with my honest appraisal of myself. For that is what my foregoing statement about friendship truly is—an appraisal of myself.

When I first went to elementary school in 1952, I was not as “socialized” as the other children. Adults normally didn’t use such a word back in the 1950s, but these words accurately described me—“poorly socialized.”

I remain “poorly socialized” to this day. I’m absolutely no good at small talk, so I don’t attend parties or similar social gatherings. I have interests that are very different from the interests of most people, so I am extremely awkward around strangers.

“So what?” you may ask.

Well, I’m just trying to explain why I have come, over the course of my life, to cherish the word “friend.” The very concept of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media flies in the face of my definition.

For example, Facebook encourages people to invite near strangers into their lives and call them “friends.” Why I have noticed one ordinary person who has over 1,000 Facebook friends. Imagine that—1,000 people posting and commenting and instant messaging and… Well, it boggles my mind.

If you’re reading this, and you happen to be one of my very own “Facebook friends,” please know that I value you, or I would not have “accepted” your Facebook “friend request.” Truthfully, though, if you think about it carefully, for the most part we are really more “acquaintances” than “friends,” aren’t we?

Please don’t get me wrong. I like the people who are my Facebook friends quite well. In fact, I’m rather amazed that any person would like me enough to want to be my Facebook friend. But, let'’s be honest, with very few exceptions, how well do we really know each other?

Do you know my favorite color? What kind of music I like? What color hair I find attractive? How I feel when I look in a mirror (shudder)? My favorite breakfast food? What career I wish I had pursued?

No, of course you don’t know these things about me—along with an even greater list of really important things. And, I don’t know them about most of you either.

Nevertheless, the more we spend time together, even on the somewhat sterile medium of Facebook, we do get to know a little more about each other, don’t we?

For example, I know that one of you is really enthralled with the Outer Banks. I know a couple of you are trying to lose weight. I know some of you are ardent conservatives and others of you think that President Obama is, well, brilliant beyond description.

I know quite a few of you really like cats. Others of you are dog lovers. Some of you absolutely adore soccer, especially during the World Cup matches. Others of you follow football, or baseball, or basketball, or hockey—you know, “normal” American sports.

Okay… what’s my point? If you’re still reading, I must have enticed you in some way to consider what it means to think a bit about the word “friend.” Maybe as you’ve read my self analysis you’ve thought to yourself: “I wonder, how many real friends do I have?”

I know one friend that many of you have. It’s the same friend that the Patriarch Job spoke about when he spoke these words recorded in Job 16:19-21:

Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.

Who is this friend who sits at the right hand of God making intercession for Job—and for all who belong to Him? The Apostle Paul writes about this friend in Romans 8:34:

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

So, Jesus—the Lord Jesus Christ—is our friend and He sits at God’s right hand and makes intercession for us. He whispers in God the Father’s ear and tells God that we, you and me, belong to Him and that He has paid the penalty for our sins.

In my self-centered, possibly even twisted, outlook on life—where I draw such a foolish distinction between the words “acquaintance” and “friend”—I am very glad to have this friend: Jesus. I don’t deserve Him as my friend. But for reasons beyond my comprehension, I have come to believe that He is my friend. And, I'’m quite certain that for many of you, He’s your friend, too.

That’s reason enough to celebrate. And, by the way, reason enough for me to begin to look at everyone through eyes of God-breathed love.

The gospel hymn writer, Johnson Oatman, penned these words:

There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!
None else could heal all our soul’s diseases,
No, not one! No, not one!

Refrain: Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!

No friend like Him is so high and holy,
No, not one! No, not one!
And yet no friend is so meek and lowly,
No, not one! No, not one!

Refrain: Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!

There’s not an hour that He is not near us,
No, not one! No, not one!
No night so dark but His love can cheer us,
No, not one! No, not one!

Refrain: Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!

Did ever saint find this Friend forsake him?
No, not one! No, not one!
Or sinner find that He would not take him?
No, not one! No, not one!

Refrain: Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!

Was e’er a gift like the Savior given?
No, not one! No, not one!
Will He refuse us a home in heaven?
No, not one! No, not one!

Refrain: Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!

 

_{Copyright © 2014 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}