Be careful of your friends but, are you a friend yourself?
“Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. (NKJV) Micah 7:5
Bible reading: Micah 7:5. Prov 17:17, Prov 18:24
Many of us can relate to the situation where an adult has given the advice to be weary of friends. My dad’s advice went in a different direction. When he saw male colleagues visit us in the house in our teen years, he never said we should be weary of friends, he categorically said, “a female and a male cannot be friends!”. How the word of the elderly is full of wisdom! In an Akan (an ethnic tribe in Ghana) adage, we say the words of the elderly are like an oracle! How true we have grown to see all the advice from my parents and other elders unfold vividly. Micah says something very strongly in his book chapter 7:5 “Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom” The bible has always been right.
It takes two to tango so if you cannot trust your friend, can your friend trust you? This is a question we must ask ourselves. Prov 17:17 says “A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity”. Proverbs 18:24 24 “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I do not have to mention the story of David and Jonathan, but for some of us who haven’t seen this inspiring story of friendship, let us go back to the scriptures (1 Samuel 18, 19, 20).
My simple question is “What kind of friend are you”? Are you the kind that always loves no matter what? or you are the kind of friend that betrays like Judas? Are you the kind that lies and gaslights your friends? Are you that backstabber? Are you the one that is the biggest source of discouragement to your friends? Or are you that friend that lifts your friends up when things seem bleak? Do you always love your friends? Do your friends see you as a “blood” relative? Can they be sure you can trust them when no one can? Can they be sure they know you very well and can be a source of information on exactly who you are? Can you be sure you admire your friends when the world secretly laughs at them? Can you be that friend that can take a “bullet” for your friends? Do you love seasonally, or do you always love no matter the situation? Are you that FRIEND THAT LOVES BETTER THAN A BROTHER?
Ending this devotional, my husband loves the animated movie “lion king”. In one of the scenes Scar and King Mufasa are brothers, but Scar has always hated his brother Mufasa, the Lion King, and plotted to kill him. The murder scene unfolds with Scar pushing Mufasa over a steep cliff, Mufasa hangs on just some thin piece of rock with one outstretched hand towards Scar, breathing deeply with death imminent, He says to Scar “Brother save me!”. Scar removes the king’s hand that held the rock and says wickedly “long live the king!” as Mufasa crashes to his death! Let’s deliberate on this story as Christians!