Your Daily Devotional for June 5, 2007

 

June 5,  2007

 

 

Godly Friendships

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"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. 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. But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man."

 

 

2 Samuel 13:1-3

 

 

In the summer of 1988, two recruits met each other in Army basic training and became friends. One was the platoon leader, who was older and married. The other was a young kid who had dropped out of his first year of college. Their common bond was a disdain for the government and for the laws on the American people. They were Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh. Through their friendship, their hatred for the American government grew until on April 19, 1995, McVeigh detonated a Ryder truck full of explosives outside the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people.

 

As we see in our verses today, Amnon, David's son, had a friend named Jonadab. Jonadab was not a good friend to Amnon and encouraged him to do wrong. Friends can either influence us to do right or to do wrong. Someone once said, "Nearness is likeness." Who we associate ourselves with will determine how we act. Amnon's problems started when he chose the wrong friend.

 

Friends have the potential to draw us closer to the Lord or to pull us away from Him. When Timothy McVeigh chose to befriend Terry Nichols, he was choosing a friend who encouraged him to do wrong. McVeigh already had a deep anger against many people and Nichols only encouraged that hatred.

 

Even so, when we choose friends who are angry, bitter, or ungodly, they will pull us away from God. James 4:4 says, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." We cannot love the world and remain devoted to God.

 

Many times worldly friends will hinder us from becoming more like Christ. They may mock us for going to church or for wishing to live holy lives. Proverbs 16:28 says, "A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends." A worldly friend will draw us away from the things of God.

 

God desires for us to create friendships with godly Christians who are living for Him. We must look for others who desire to do right and please God. Proverbs 27:17 says, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." When we spend time with Christians who love God and live for Him, we will be challenged to live for God as well.

 

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Be slow in choosing a friend; slower in changing." Friends have such a great influence on our lives that we must be careful in whom we choose to be our friends.  Do your friends seek to glorify God in all they do? Or do they hinder you from drawing close to God? Ask Christ to help you develop godly friendships in your life today.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 23-24 • John 15

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