A True Friend

A True Friend

“Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us. When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.” (Ruth 1:16:18).

          Some of my best memories as a child was my friends. Early on, I had a couple ride or die friends that were always there for me. That would always do anything for me. Travis Jeffers and Brian Gosnell. We were so young back then. Maybe 10 or 11. As you get older, you realize that very rarely you will ever have the kind of friendship with anyone that you had with a childhood friend. That is just a different kind of friendship right there. The sleepovers, the all-nighters on the old Sega Genesis 😊 those were the days.

          Reading this passage of Scripture brought back old memories of friends that I have not saw in years. I thought to myself, “Man, what a friend Ruth was.” It would be nice to have a genuine friend like that would it not? It is hard to find a true friend these days.

          This Scripture is so awesome for me because it shows me how we should be in our friendships with others. It shows me where I fail as a friend. Naomi tried to get Ruth to leave, but she was not hearing it. The original word for determined in verse 18 means – strength, firmness, and persistence. We could all use some of that in our lives, couldn’t we? Man, this just reminded me how quickly we give up on people. We give up on people so easily sometimes. All I know is if we were fixing to embark on a journey together, and I had just had the worst luck, the most of horrible days, and you told me to just go ahead and go home – ok see you pal! Be careful. Call me when you get there!

          You know what really stuck out to me? Isn’t our recovery journey a lot like that? Those whom we thought were our friends just bid us farewell. They pretty much write us off. Good luck pal hope you make it through your recovery. Most of them are not ready or willing to be by our side through it all! We all need a friend in our life that possesses a character like Ruth. Someone that will hold us accountable, always be there for us, and not give up on us when we give up on ourselves. Do you have a friend like that in your life? If you do, consider yourself extremely blessed.

          Call them or message them today and tell them how much you appreciate their friendship and everything that they have done for you. Even if you are like me, and it is an old childhood friend that you have not saw in years. Try and get in touch with them and see how they are doing. Talk about your memories together of the good old days. This could be life changing for you! We sometimes take friendship for granted. Having a true friend is like taking a coin into the pawn stars shop in Vegas and finding out it is worth 1 million dollars. You did not realize what you had!

Be Encouraged, Chris

Hope everyone has a Happy Father’s Day!