My Good Friend
Pastor Steve Dunn, Alabama  2/3/2018

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

1 Peter 3:15

I had a good friend. We were friends through grammar school together, played sports together, and hung out on weekends together. All during high school my parents would not see me from Friday until late Sunday night because I was at his house. His mom and dad were like my aunt and uncle. His sisters were like my sisters. He was a good friend.

After high school, we worked together on the oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana. We started drinking together, and then ventured into breaking the law together with all types of drugs. I had an addiction problem and was the first to pass out or get into trouble. How many times my good friend drove me home and saw to it I was safe at the end of the night can’t be counted. One night, while at a bar we lost track of each other because, I learned later, of a girl that he’d spontaneously taken home. I woke up the next morning soaking wet in a mud hole in front of his house. I have no memory of how I got there, but it shows how instinctively I would seek out my friend. He was a good friend.

We often double-dated. One night we went out with sisters and at the end of the night I knew my date was not just any other girl. That night we stopped double-dating, and my girl became the love of my life. She and I got married, started a family, and moved an hour away. My friend and I still spent time together, but it wasn’t the same. He was still a good friend.

My good friend continued in the world of alcohol and drugs. I had a serious addiction problem and with a new wife and children I deeply desired to change. With support from my wife, I started going to church. The best way I can explain what happened is one day I started a new friendship. Jesus became my friend.   As I read the Bible it was as if it was about me and Him. On every page my Friend would show me what true life really is. He taught me of true love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and importantly how to have self-control. The new things my friend Jesus taught me began to satisfy me like nothing I’d ever experienced using alcohol and drugs. My new friend became someone I wanted to spend time with just like I had once wanted to spend with my good friend.

As my friendship with Jesus grew stronger, my good friend and I spent less time together. He nor I were angry, but we slowly drifted apart. One day, after not seeing him for a long while he came by our house to visit. I was building a porch and he decided to stay to help me. On Saturday night, I invited him to church, but he politely said ‘no’. Before we left that morning, I cut the plan to make Jesus our friend out of my Bible lesson book and laid it beside his bed with a note saying when I got back I wanted to talk more with him about the friendship I had with Jesus. When we got back from church he was gone.

I didn’t try to get in touch. I thought I’d try again one day, but didn’t feel urgent. I thought there would be plenty of time. Little did I know that was the last time I would see my good friend. A short time later he took his own life. I learned he was about to go to jail for a long time because of drugs. He decided to take his own life instead.

I still miss my friend. My friend’s senseless death led me to seriously study how to tell my friends about Jesus Christ.  My good friend lost hope. He needed Jesus. We can help our friends know Him 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear . . . “ Do you have a good friend that doesn’t know Jesus? Tell him today. Now, because we never know the last time we may see our friends (Heb 9:27). We need to tell them about Jesus so our good friends can know Him too ( 2 Cor 6:2).  

Be urgent, before it’s too late.

By Permission - Thanks for "Taking Five" - Gary Waddell

Victory Ministries of Middle Tennessee - iamnotashamed.com
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