There is nothing that compares to a good friend. If you have one, you know this is true. If you don't have one, you also know this is true. Not only are good friends hard to find, but they are hard to be thankful for. If you are anything like me, of which I'm willing to bet you are, you go through everyday life forgetting what a great blessing good friends truly are. I was reminded of this last week while reading 2 Samuel 11 and 12. In this popular Bible story, King David sleeps with the wife of one of his elite soldiers Uriah, impregnates her, then tries to deceive Uriah into thinking the child is his, and then kills Uriah. All in all, David was in sin, ruining his life, and acting like everything was okay. Have you been in a spot like that before? Maybe you haven't had an affair or murdered anyone, but you are going through the motions in your walk with God, continually choosing sin over righteousness, and you walk around pretending like everything is alright. I'm so grateful because I have been in that place time and time again, yet the Lord is so patient and kind. So much so that He often sends a friend to meet me where I am. This is exactly what He did in David's life. In 2 Samuel 12 God sends Nathan to David. The Scripture records Nathan telling a story to David, in hopes that David will see himself in the story, so that he might repent and be restored in his relationship with God. While I could certainly go into more detail here, I want to hone in on verse 7. At the end of telling the story, David points out the evil in the man of the story. In response, Nathan says "You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says..." Wow. When we are seasons and in the trenches of joy-sucking sin, we need a friend. Not someone who will join us in acting like everything is alright, but a friend who will point out our wrongdoings, help us see sin for what it is, and remind us of what God says. I am grateful for the friends in my life that do those things for me. I'm asking God that He would help me be more thankful, will you join me?
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About MeI am a Husband to Clarissa, Pastor at Liberty Baptist Church, reader of many books, and tweeter at @brad_merchant. Archives
July 2016
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