True Friend!

True Friend!

We live in the age of social networking. Almost everyone got accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google plus and many other social networking sites. The technology has developed so much that we can access these social networking sites in the form of an app on our smartphones. We have a lot of friends on these social networking sites people who know us, our family, who studied with us, work with us, neighbors etc.. Most of us have hundreds of friends. The social networking has influenced us so much that it makes us to chat, share photos and videos with our friends and help us to communicate with them at the touch of your finger wherever they are in the whole world, but at the same time it silently took away the closeness between friends by taking us away from meeting friends in person like in olden days! We have hundreds of friends, those who are famous and popular have thousands and millions of friends and they add them as friends without even knowing them! I remember the famous one liner in Big Bang Theory where Leonard tells Penny I have 300 friends in Facebook and she replies back how many of them you actually know and he stands there absolutely speechless! This is a real question how many of your friends do you really know? Who is your real friend?

Well, in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Luke in The Bible, Jesus gives a description of a real friend.
‘On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”’ (‭Luke‬ ‭10‬:‭25-37‬ NIV)

This is one famous parable of Jesus called the Good Samaritan. Most of us know this story very well. It is quite self explanatory. One day during Jesus’s sermon, an expert in law asked Jesus what he need to do to receive eternal life or heaven as an answer Jesus ask him to obey as it said in the commandments- ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ So the man trying to justify himself and ask who is my neighbor and Jesus answers him in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

As the parable states a man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jerico. He might be a merchant or a wealthy person, but he got robbed and the robbers attacked him and left half dead on the road. There was no one to help him. He cried for help, there was no one to hear his cry. But later, a priest came that way, but seeing him, he moved aside and continued his journey so did a Levite. The priest and Levite were considered great personalities in their society those days. The people whom the people trusted to be the great men in society, who should be helping the needy in society seeing the man half dead didn’t do anything to save him, but continued their journey as if they didn’t see the man half dead on the road.

Then a Samaritan who was not valued in society and found in the lowest level of society happened to go that way and saw the man. Instead of going away from the man as the Priest and Levite did, he felt pity on him and went to him, nursed him treating his wounds and gave him to drink and then he lifted him and offered him his vehicle the donkey to the wounded man while he walked and took him to an inn and took proper care of him by spending the day there! The next day as he was leaving, he went to the inn keeper, gave 2 denarii and asked him to take proper care of him and not only that anything you spend extra will be reimbursed as he come back! Oh, what a great man! What a nice person! Do you find anyone as good as him in society? It doesn’t matter what your society tells you who you are. You may be left with no value in society, the people around you may insult you and mock at you, but will you be willing to take care of the needy as the Good Samaritan did?

As you see out of the three people the Good Samaritan is the true friend of the wounded man. It was he the only one who went to take care of the wounded man. He didn’t know who the man was whether rich or a good man or will he pay him for all good he did, but he offered all what he could do to save the man’s life scarifying his time, energy, resources and even money! He could have left him at the inn with the inn keeper instead he even paid the innkeeper and reassured he will pay back anything spend over when he come back! Oh, what a great man!

He is the only true friend of that man. A man who didn’t know the wounded, but did everything he could to save the man! My dear friends, we are the wounded man, we are the needy who were under the yoke of sin like the robbed man! We were depressed and hopeless looking who could save us. Many who were valued high and thought could save us didn’t even bother to help us. But when all hopes were gone and left to die in our sins ‘Jesus, the Good Samaritan’ came to this earth leaving all heavenly glory and splendor of heaven came down to this wretched world to save us from our sins, even though we didn’t know him he loved us and offered himself at the across of Calvary and suffered a lot of pain and gave the very last drop of blood of his body so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life! He who accepts him and believes in heart and proclaim by word Jesus as Lord and Saviour of life, their sins are forgiven! Jesus who was righteous died for the redemption of our sins so that, through his blood, whoever accepts him in life be saved and counted righteous by the blood of Jesus! He paid himself on the cross and brought us redemption of sins, and not only that as the Good Samaritan, he is going to come back and gather those who believed and accepted him in heart and declared Jesus as Lord and Saviour in life and leading a holy life to be with him forever in heaven! Oh, what an amazing Grace! It doesn’t matter who you are or how bad you were in your life, but if you believe and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour in your life he will come in you and take away all those bad things away from your life, giving you a whole new life of heavenly peace and hope! Will you accept this true friend Jesus today?

‘If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.’(‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9-10‬ NIV)

‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’ (2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ NIV)

Where you look for help and nobody come to help you, Jesus is your only true friend who look after you and bring out of any complicated situation you are for once you believe and accept him, He comes in you and take control of your life and deliver you out of all your worries and brings you hope and peace in life and not only that, but He will bring you to be with him forever, the everlasting life, Heaven! Will you go away without seeing this true love today or will you accept this one and only one Saviour Jesus in life today?

‘“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’ (‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭1-3‬ NIV)

If you willing to accept Jesus in your life, please repeat this following prayer by accepting and believing in the heart and declaring by mouth.

‘Heavenly Father, I accept and believe Jesus is the only true God who came to redeem my sins. I believe Jesus is the son of God who came to this earth to die for my sins and to fulfil Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary and all the sufferings and pain that Jesus took on the body was for me, He was broken down and gave His very last drop of blood for me on the Cross of Calvary for the redemption of my sins and I accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour in my life, I confess my sins and give my life for Jesus. Please forgive me for every mistake I made in my life. Please come in me, live in me, fill in me and guide me until the last breath of my life and help me to stay away from evil ways and lead a holy and victorious Christian life as you please. And bring me to heaven to be with you forever. In Jesus name. Amen!’

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭13‬ NIV)

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ NIV)

‘So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ (‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭16-21‬ NIV)

‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’ (‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ NIV)

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”(‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭5-8‬ NIV)

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. “(‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭9‬ NIV)

‘I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.’ (‭Psalm‬ ‭40‬:‭1-5‬ NIV)