True Friends

The sign outside of my office door usually makes people smile. It reads, “I ain’t from the South, but I got here as quick as I could!”

Humor diverts attention from the fact that I’m from the North. North Jersey to be exact.

When I head back for a visit, as I did recently, I tell people I don’t miss the traffic. What I miss are the places and the faces. And I saw both during a recent 40th High School Reunion.

The summer of 1969 was the end of an era--several, to be truthful. Not only were the 60’s ending, but it was also the exciting culmination of man’s amazing effort to reach the moon.

For me, though, it was more personal. 1969 was the bittersweet end of my High School days. Bittersweet because in mid-senior year, my father took a position that moved our family to South Jersey. And I went from a small town school to a large regional high school. I felt lost.

Instead of graduating with my hometown friends, I ended the year with new acquaintances. Bummer. At their 20th reunion, classmates from the new school didn’t even remember me.

For years I wished I could go back and change that decision to move so I could have graduated with my friends in my hometown. But, as they say, “There’s no going back.”

However, as I learned at this reunion in my hometown, my old classmates are still my friends. True friends. Some seem almost like family!

What’s odd about that is, for the most part, I haven’t seen some of them for 40 years. Sure, there’s been the occasional reunion, but the last one was ten years ago.

“Well, hold on just a minute. How can you feel close to people you hardly ever see?”

The Bible says, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” True friends are like that.

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Friends are family you choose for yourself.” And I guess that’s true. Plus, there’s something about living through adolescence together that forges bonds deeper than we know.

Most of us have aged a little. No surprise there. Some looked very much like they did in High School. Others have changed. But the saddest thing to see was the memory board listing names of classmates who have passed away. At every reunion the list grows longer.

Sadly, the reunion was over before we knew it and it was time to leave. It was hard to say “Good-bye” because I don’t know when or if I’ll see my friends again. Tomorrow has no guarantee. And that made me think about the only friend who guaranteed he wouldn’t leave us.

Jesus told his friends, “Never will I leave you.” And if you are a friend of Jesus, if your faith is in him as your Lord and Savior—there is nowhere you can go without him. In fact he is the only friend who can walk with you through the “valley of the shadow of death.”

When a friend or loved one passes away, we still have their memory with us. But Jesus gives us more than that. Jesus said he would not abandon his followers. He said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

How can Jesus be with us? When he returned to Heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The King James Bible calls him the “Comforter.” Other versions refer to him as the “Counselor” or “Helper.” And part of his ministry today is to bring us peace and joy.

Throughout life, friends come and go. True friends stick with us no matter what happens. But Jesus Christ is a true friend forever. He is the only one who says, “I will never leave you” and is able to keep his promise.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!