There are times when your mother will tell you that I don’t want to see you associating with a certain type of people. The unfortunate thing is as children where we advised not to go is where we enjoyed going. The joy is in the disobedience because you want to see what mother will do about it. Nigel Taylor, a pastor said, the problem with us parents is that we drive an external compliance where we give the children boundaries, they should not cross but they don’t know why. Unless we get to expound the issue to the children so that they have a good understanding of what it means to cross those boundaries.

These days there is a saying “breast friend forever BFF”. Is there a person like that in human form? One day you are friends, the next day you cannot see eye to eye. That is how human relationships are, they are flawed and work in progress.

The bible version called The Message says in Luke 6:44-45, “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds. Successful people have great friends.

Proverbs 17:17
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”.

Family is there when there are serious, critical issues. However, true friends know when you are hurting, in need, overwhelmed and not coping. True friends pray with you, cry with or for you when you are sad, are happy for you when you achieve and are not judgemental when you make wrong decision. The best friend one can have is Jesus because of his love he died for our sins. Associate with people who bring you blessings and who also think you are a blessing.

Let me look at the story of Jesus healing the Paralytic man at Capernaum which is in the four synoptic gospels. Matthew9:2-8, Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26. Just to summarise four men carried their friend on a mat so that Jesus could heal him. Nothing stopped them from their goal, getting their friend to Jesus. That is what friends are for; they take you where you need to get to, emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.

These men could not find way into the house but they got on the roof of the house, made a hole in the roof and lowered him into the house to meet Jesus for his healing. He was healed because of the persistence of his friends. True friends will encourage you to achieve your goals, they don’t change the way you do your things. When you have lost control over your affairs true friends are there to help you get your act together.

Friends who would ask what would Jesus do and help you in searching the Word of God for solutions, for the Word of God is the foundation of a meaningful and prosperous life. Try it; you will understand what I am talking about or where I am coming from.

Psalms 1:1-2
“God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn: when you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes. When you avoid sin’s highway, when judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse. For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness. It is your focus—from dusk to dawn”.

Daniel 11:32b
“But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits”.

It is good to have a circle of trustworthy friends but even greater to have those who will walk in the mud with you. Think about what value you are adding to your circle and what brightness you are adding to them as well. That is the description of a friend indeed.