A Friend Worth Keeping

When is the last time you read the Old Testament Book of Job. It is really a great story to read. One of the things that fascinates me about the book is that Job was a man whose life was moved from wealth, influence, having a good name, and a man of deep faith to losing it all. He got there NOT because of sin or messing up in his life, but rather because bad things happened to a good person. And essentially because the devil wanted to make Job's life so miserable that he would curse God.

The good news is that Job did not sink to cursing God even though if I were Job, I do not know if I could have made it. Still, Job became increasingly frustrated and asked God for answers about his situation. Why? Because of Job's friends. They came and accused Job of some wrong doing saying that this was the cause of his suffering.

Read the story for a much better overview. But my thinking moved to the tragic fact that of all the things Job had in life, he lacked a friend worth keeping. Job's suffering brought that to light. In essence, his so-called friends were only superficial friends who were waiting for a moment to pounce on Job and bring him down. When Job suffered all they could do was accuse him.

I hope you have some friends who are worth keeping. These are friends who will stick with you when things are going tough in life. These people are not anxious when you talk to them about your troubles. Rather these are friends who will listen to you without judging you. I hope you have friends like these and I hope you become a friend to others in this way.

Peace