First of all, who is a friend?
A Friend is a person who you like and enjoy being with. A Friend is also a person who helps or supports someone or something (such as a cause or charity).
Every man on earth need a friend, even God when sending the animals into the ark, they entered two by two. Why?! Because of communication.
Remember, it is written, it is not good for a man to be alone. It is also written, (can two walk together except they be in agreement?). It is neccessary for a man to have a friend because no tree can make a forest. The question now is this, Who is your friend??
Zechariah 13:6 says " And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."
Many of us have friends who have wounded us due to our own carelessness and over confidence on them. In the scripture above, the man was wounded in the house of his friend. The psalmist says " Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."
(Psalms 41: 9)
" My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me."
(Job 19: 14)
From the two scriptures above, you will notice that they are familiar friends, close buddies, people that they dine with almost everyday, people that they trusted, and at the end they lifted up their heels against them and they abandoned them.
VARIOUS KINDS OF FRIENDS:
Friends that are there because of what you can give to them. ( friends with benefits) Jonah 1:3 says " But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD."
The above scriptures explains how jonah was accepted by the mariners not because they loved him but because of what he gave to them.
This kind of friendship, they give up on you when things become so hard.
Friends that claim they love you but are nowhere to be found when you are in trouble.
(Job 19:14 and 19)
14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
Job was faithful to his friends, he was encouraging, he was supportive to them even in their circumstances, but when he was faced with his own challenges and trials, his friends disliked him and turned their backs against him.
This is the second category of friends that can wound you in their own house.
Friends that betray you for their benefits.
(Psalms 41:9) " Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."
(Matthew 26:48, 49 and 50)
48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
Judas was a familiar friend of Jesus, he was his disciple but yet he betrayed Jesus for his own benefit, selling him for his own benefits just for 30 pieces of silver. Can u imagine? These kinds of friends can betray you without thinking twice for their own benefits neglecting how far or how long you've known them.
Friends that push you far from God and give you wrong advice.
(2 Samuel 13: 1-17)
1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
2 And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do any thing to her.
3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.
4 And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.
5 And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.
6 So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.
7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon's house, and dress him meat.
8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. And she took flour, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes.
9 And she took a pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all men from me. And they went out every man from him.
10 And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber, that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
11 And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister.
12 And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly.
13 And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.
14 Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.
15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.
16 And she said unto him, There is no cause: this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken unto her.
17 Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.
There are friends that advice you on a wrong path.
In the scripture above, Amnon loved his sister but was unable to do evil to her but he had a friend jonadab who gave him a bad advice on how to deflower her and after heeding to his friend's advice, all the love he had for his sister turned to hatred. This is to indicate that the kind of advice you receive can either make you or destroy you. That is why in (Deuteronomy 13: 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 )
6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage...
No matter who the friend is to you, if he/she is taking you away from God, separate your self from them.
The last kind of friend is the friend I expect you all to have. A FRIEND THAT DRAWS YOU CLOSE TO GOD AND CAN RISK THEIR LIFE FOR YOU.
(Mark 2: 1- 5)
1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
" A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
(Proverbs 17: 17)
This kind of friend, they can risk their life to ensure you are great. Notice in the scripture above, Jesus saw the faith of his friend not the faith of the sick man. So it was the faith of his friend that healed him. This is the kind of friend we all need. A Friend that when they are in a great position to help you, they dont think twice to help you. A Friend that can sacrifice for you even against their own comfort. A Friend that loves you at all times in good and bad.
NOW MY QUESTION IS THIS, WHO IS YOUR FRIEND AND WHERE DO THEY FALL ON IN THIS CATEGORY?.
WRITTEN BY ECHANOMI SMITH ESE
WATCH OUT FOR MY NEXT WRITE UP TITLED HOW TO DETECT TRUE FRIENDS.