True Friendship

The Writing on the Wall

READ: MATTHEW 7:13-14; JOHN 10:7-10 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MATTHEW%207%3A13-14%3B%20JOHN%2010%3A7-10&version=NIV] Spelunking. The official yet admittedly odd term for cave-exploring. Fun to say, but not so fun when your spelunking gets you hopelessly lost in a complex cave system where the darkness is absolute and you doubt you’ll ever see the light of day again. Which is exactly the point I’m at right now—hopeless and lost. Every tunnel I try spits me out in the same place again. My map of the cave system might as well be a map of Budapest for all the good it’s doing me. I must have stumbled into an unmapped part of the cave. Unknown territory. I wonder what will run out first—my food, water, or headlamp batteries. I hope it’s not the batteries. If I’m going to die, I don’t want it to be in the dark. The hours go by. I open my last bottle of water and take a tiny sip. My headlamp dims, and my heart skips a beat. Suddenly, a soft glow fills the cavern. I whip my head around and see that words have appeared on the limestone wall behind me. They glow orange like lava. I stare at them, wondering if dehydration has already set in and I’m hallucinating. They say, Choose the narrow path. The words jolt a memory—one I haven’t thought about in years. I’m sitting in church with my grandmother, her perfume wafting down the pew like incense as the pastor reads from the Bible. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” The words gleam on the wall for a few seconds before fading away, but the memory continues to stab at my heart. What would my grandmother say if she’d lived to see the mess I’ve made of my life? She wanted me to choose the narrow path. She wanted me to choose Jesus, but I chose myself instead. I look at the tunnels leading out of the cavern I’m stuck in. Dead ends, all of them. I sink to my knees. “Jesus,” I pray, “I don’t have much time left. I want to choose the right path before it’s too late.” As my head hangs near the ground, I notice a rock jutting out from the base of the limestone at a funny angle. I move closer, then gasp. Behind it is a large crack in the wall—perhaps just big enough for me to squeeze through. This is it—the narrow path. My only hope. I suck in my breath and climb into the opening. After what seems like hours of pulling myself along with jagged rocks scraping my face and arms, a bright warmth floods my vision. Instead of cold stone, my hands fall upon dew-soaked mountain grass, and I crawl into the light of a glorious spring day. • Courtney Lasater • Have you ever felt like the spelunker in today’s allegorical story—like the path you’d chosen in life got you stuck at a dead end? What made you choose that path in the first place? What made you rethink it later? • In today’s Bible passages, Jesus says He is the gate that leads to life. He died and rose again to save us from the destruction of sin and death and give us eternal life with Him. Why do you think He calls the path that leads to life “narrow”? • Even when we’ve really messed up, Jesus is always reaching out to us with love and mercy. He longs for us to trust and rely on Him to forgive and help us—even when we get ourselves into trouble. Consider taking some time to talk to Jesus, confessing any sins that come to mind, resting in His mercy, and asking Him to help you move forward in following Him. (If you want to dig deeper, read Exodus 34:6; Psalms 9:10; 18:19; Acts 17:27; Luke 19:10; 23:34; 15:1-32) [Jesus said,] “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” Matthew 7:13 (NIV)

True Friendship

READ: 1 SAMUEL 18:1-5; 20:1-42; MATTHEW 11:19; ROMANS 5:9-11 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20SAMUEL%2018%3A1-5%3B%2020%3A1-42%3B%20MATTHEW%2011%3A19%3B%20ROMANS%205%3A9-11&version=NIV] “My father tried to kill me yesterday,” the one in royal attire said. “You were right—he wants to kill you too. You must go.” The other, armed with a sword, only nodded. They had sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, and this terrible turn of events could not change that. Tears streamed down the faces of the two young men as they embraced. Then, the warrior turned and strode away through the field as the prince returned to his father. Jonathan and David shared a deep friendship, although circumstances could have made them bitter enemies. What glued their friendship together? Jonathan, the heir to the throne of Israel, was to be sovereignly usurped by a lowly shepherd boy. Yet instead of being angry with David, “he loved him as himself” (1 Samuel 18:3). The prince promised to protect David from Saul’s murderous plans and even risked his life for him. The sacrificial love Jonathan showed David preserved their close friendship—and saved David’s life. A true friend loves sacrificially, and Jonathan knew how to be that kind of friend. Jonathan’s love points to Jesus, who performed the greatest act of sacrificial love when He died for us on the cross. We were His enemies, but Jesus became the friend of sinners—He faced the Father’s wrath, absorbed our punishment, and secured eternal life for us. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). John writes in his first epistle (or letter to the church) that Jesus’s death demonstrates God’s love for us—a genuine, sacrificial love willing to put aside everything for His beloved. We may never be asked to physically die for someone, but we are called to daily put to death our selfishness in order to selflessly love others. When we live with a sacrificial mindset in a selfish world, we bear a vibrant testimony to the glory of the gospel. When we sacrificially love others, we point back to the love Jesus first showed us. • Celeste Ashley • Can you think of a time someone showed you sacrificial love? What did they say or do? • 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.”As werest in Jesus’s amazing love for us, we often find His love naturally overflows from us to others. Consider taking some time just to ponder God’s love for you and the sacrifice He made for you, becoming human and dying in your place. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16 (NIV)

Wounded

READ: GENESIS 3:1-10; PSALM 34:5; LUKE 15 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=GENESIS%203%3A1-10%3B%20PSALM%2034%3A5%3B%20LUKE%2015&version=NIV] One day on a walk through my neighborhood, I spotted an injured duck. As I neared the lake behind a row of houses, other ducks flew away at my approach. Unable to fly, the wounded one hobbled around a tree trunk to hide. It seemed desperate to escape on only one functioning leg. I called Animal Control services in hopes that they could collect the duck and transport it to an animal rehabilitation facility. I stayed outside to keep an eye on the injured creature while I awaited help. Animal Control arrived, but the duck couldn’t be found. I had attempted to follow it so I could point it out to the animal rescuer. But in panic and pain, the duck hid itself away—not realizing help was close by. In a way, we do the same thing. When we put our trust in Jesus for forgiveness of our sins, we become God’s beloved children. In His lovingkindness we can experience, not just forgiveness of our sins, but also healing from hurts and bitterness. But, like the wounded duck ran from rescue, our own sin and brokenness may cause us to pull away from the love offered in our relationship with Jesus. Shame may convince us we’re beyond repair. Adam and Eve did the same thing in Genesis 3. They hid from God “among the trees of the garden” after they’d sinned (verse 8). Their shame and regret kept them away from the only one who could provide healing and restoration. Like Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with flimsy leaves, we may seek to cover our sins, mistakes, and vulnerabilities, hoping to appear whole. But Jesus died and rose again to provide the way to wholeness. So now, instead of trying to convince ourselves, God, and others that we’re okay, or that we have all the resources we need to “fix” ourselves, we can turn in faith to the God who heals. • Allison Wilson Lee • What parts of your past or present do you hesitate to share with others? Sometimes we find it difficult to believe God is trustworthy to heal those things. Why do you think that is? Consider taking some time to talk to God about whatever is on your mind. • We don’t have to endure pain in isolation. God provides help in relationship with Himself, and with fellow Christians. Who are safe people in your life you could open up to about your hurts? (If no one comes to mind, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future.) He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 (NIV)

The Eternal God

READ: GENESIS 21:22-34; ISAIAH 40:28 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=GENESIS%2021%3A22-34%3B%20ISAIAH%2040%3A28&version=NLT] In the book of Genesis, the author uses several different names for God. One of those names is the “Eternal God.” And the context in which this name is first used may appear strange. Abraham calls upon the Eternal God...after he plants a tree! There are a few essential things to notice about this passage. First, notice the kind of tree Abraham plants is a tamarisk tree. A tamarisk tree in the Middle East can live for hundreds of years. Second, notice Abraham plants this tree in Beersheba. Several chapters earlier, God appeared to Abraham and promised that He would make Abraham into a great nation, give him a great name, give him many descendants, and give him a land to possess. Beersheba would have been a region included in the land God promised that Abraham would one day possess. Once these pieces of the puzzle are put in place, we begin to see the significance of Abraham’s action. By planting this tree in Beersheba, he was communicating a message of belief and trust in God’s promises. He believed in God’s promise to give him the land he was currently sojourning in, and he trusted that future generations would enjoy the benefits of this tree! It is in this context that we read: “Abraham…worshiped the Lord, the Eternal God” (Genesis 21:33). Abraham trusted that the God who promised to bless him would be faithful to those promises, not just in the present, but hundreds and even thousands of years in the future. And today, we can see how His promises to save His people from sin and death have ultimately been fulfilled in Jesus. He made the way for us to become part of God’s family and live with Him forever through His death and resurrection. God loves us, and we, like Abraham, can trust God to be faithful to His promises and His character—day after day, month after month, season after season, and year after year. After all, God is the Eternal God. • Jonathon Fuller • Not only is God eternal, but if we know Jesus, He is eternally with us. He is also eternally loving, eternally good, and eternally faithful. He always keeps His promises. How can remembering that God is the Eternal God encourage us as we face challenges and trials in life? • Today is Arbor Day! How can planting trees remind us of God’s faithfulness? Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he worshiped the Lord, the Eternal God. Genesis 21:33 (NLT)

I Know Him!

READ: JOHN 4:1-30, 39-42; 17:3 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN%204%3A1-30%2C%2039-42%3B%2017%3A3&version=NLT] Did you know the first time Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah was to a woman? Jewish Rabbis weren’t even supposed to speak to women, and especially not to Samaritans like the woman at the well (John 4). On top of that, Jesus knew all about her disreputable lifestyle, but He offered her everlasting life. Jesus knows us inside and out, and His love for us is undaunted! A different part of this story caught my attention recently, though. The woman at the well spread the word to the people of her village, but verse 42 says that they believed because they heard Jesus for themselves—not just because of her testimony. Her story drew them in, but it was meeting Jesus, knowing Jesus, that led them to believe. It’s the same for us. I grew up in church, so I heard stories of how God was moving all the timein other people’s lives. As I’ve grown and matured, though, I’ve often prayed, “God, if You are real, make Yourself real to me.” It isn’t enough to know about God. For our faith to blossom and flourish, we have to experience God in our own lives. We have to know Jesus for ourselves. And most incredible of all, Jesus wants us to know Him. Isn’t that amazing? I know the Son of God, because He wants to know me! He isn’t like a celebrity shielding Himself from the paparazzi—if we seek Him, He will reveal Himself to us (Jeremiah 29:13). And the more we seek to follow Jesus, the more we will notice Him at work in our daily lives. If you want to know Jesus better, He’s given us several ways to do so. First, dig deep into His Word—in church, by yourself, and with other believers. The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell the story of Jesus’s life on earth, but every book of the Bible points to Jesus, including the Old Testament. Second, pray. Talk to Him. Ask Him to show Himself to you. Finally, connect with other believers. Listen to the stories of how they’ve seen God work in their lives. Then, keep your eyes wide open to see how He is working in your life! • Hannah Ruth Johnson • What testimonies have you heard about God’s work in other people’s lives that have strengthened your belief or made you want to know Him better? (Psalm 9:10; Acts 17:27) • How have you experienced God in your own life? Consider taking a moment to thank Him for this. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:42 (NLT)