Tonight we went with our staff and some friends to watch the Seattle Mariners play against the New York Yankees. Mariners ended up loosing the game in the 9th, but we put on our rally caps (turning you hat inside out) trying to generate some MOJO.
We had a great time just hanging out, having a great time... eating garlic fries! One of the highlights was when a fan was arrested for leaping over the outfield wall and running onto the field.
It was good to just be with great people and enjoying their company. I wasn't a pastor, or a boss... just a person who enjoys baseball, who loved being with other people, building memories.
Friends are vital to enjoying life. Proverbs 18:24 says "A man who has friends must himself be friendly; and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Being friendly isn't something that you do just in the beginning of a friendship. Being friendly is a characteristic that is there throughout the journey, even in tough times. I heard Pastor Joel Osteen once said: a friend walks in when others walk out, and a friend rubs out a hurt when others rub it in. When you stop and think about it, the value of a true friendship is when things are rough and you're not at your best, yet they are there to walk you through it.
Jesus was known as a friend to sinners...WOW! Sin separates us from God, yet His love is so compelling that He cared for the person who was entangled in sin, and God was willing to walk in their life when others were walking out. God rubbed out the hurt by sending His Son Jesus to dying on the cross while we were still in our sin, when others raise their stones to rub it in. He demonstrated His friendship by sticking close and walking this life with us!
Finding friends like this isn't easy. Everyone needs friends like that. I want to be a friend to others like Jesus is to me...
Lord, teach me to be a friend. Allow your love to increase in my life so it enables me walk in people's life when others are walking out. Help me to rub out the hurts that have been inflicted in the hearts of others, just as you have in my life. Give me friends that will be there with me when I'm not my best. Thank you for remaining close to me, being my friend when I've needed it the most... Amen.
Just wanted to stop by and say thet the church loves you too.
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