August 8, 2021 (Sunday)
A famous poem by Roy Croft sounds like a love song, but is actually about best friends. This poem is not about romantic love, but is about love of the noblest kind–the love of your very best friend. Here it is, in all of its glory:
BEST FRIEND
By Roy Croft
I love you not only for what you are,
but for what I am when I am with you.
I love you not only for what you have made of yourself,
but for what you are making of me.
I love you because you have done more than any creed
could have done to make me good, and more than any
fate could have done to make me happy.
You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.
You have done it by being yourself.
Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.
Jesus is our best friend. On the way from the upper room to Gethsemane, before the Cross, Jesus taught His disiciples one last time. Here’s some of what He said that night:
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:9-17 NIV).
We are thankful that Jesus is our friend. We are also thankful for the human friends God has given us. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise Him above, you Heavenly Host, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”
Remember the famous saying: “To have a friend, be a friend.”
THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR
Writers Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach
And I never thought I’d feel this way
And as far as I’m concerned
I’m glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe, I love you
And if I should ever go away
Well, then close your eyes and try
To feel the way we do today
And then if you can remember
Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for