True Friendship

I had to make a tough decision in my senior year of high school. Coming out of basketball season, I had to decide between playing baseball or running track. My junior year, I had played baseball because we didn't have enough boys to fill a track team. My senior year, however, presented a dilemma. If I ran track, there would be just enough to have team. If I didn't, there wouldn't be a track team that year. When I approached my baseball coach about it, he told me that I would never do anything in track and that his baseball team would probably be going to the state finals. My decision was simple after that. I chose track.

In our passage today, we read that some friends (if you want to call them friends) destroy each other through words or actions, but a real friend will stick behind you no matter what. That was the case for me in my senior-year decision. Every friend I thought I had who played baseball ignored me for the rest of year. I was banned from their circles because I had made the decision to run track, thus creating another team for the school. If not for a friend named Marc Graber I wouldn't have finished my senior year with any positive thoughts.

Marc encouraged me, spent time with me and included me when all my old friends disappeared. Here lies the difference between friends and TRUE friends. Most friends will tell you want you want to hear, but a true friend will always tell you what you need to hear. Marc was that kind of friend to me. I don't see much of Marc anymore, but I will always cherish the true friendship he showed me during a difficult time. God bless the Marc's of this world! We need more like him.

Do you realize that Jesus wants to be a true friend to you? He will tell you what you need to hear in every situation. When things get tough, He is there. He is never a fair-weather friend. As the old hymn goes, "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to Him in prayer." Today, trust Him as a true Friend.