Four friends

I have hundreds of friends. I’ve lived in the same area my entire life. My guys comment that I “know everybody” whenever we go anywhere! Yet, as I prepare to move, I realize the depth (or lack of) of many of these relationships. Kathy Guy wrote a post this morning titled Do you have your four friends? Do you? that really hit on exactly what I’ve been thinking about.

I know I haven’t always been a good friend. Now, before you start thinking terrible things, what I mean by that is that although I’ve been a “decent” friend to many, I’ve not always been one to “go the extra mile” or “carry my paralyzed friend’s mat through a roof”. It’s easy to express joy, sympathy, compassion, or understanding if it doesn’t take risking ourselves.It’s easy to think of what to do, it’s a whole different level to actually get up and do it. How many people saw this paralyzed man? How many of his friends wanted to help and may have even thought of how to get him to Jesus? Yet, four friends picked up the mat, risked it all, and did it.

In my life, I know why it happened. I learned long ago to keep my life secret, to be superficial and to never be vulnerable. That offered protection from being hurt, but it also established barriers to real relationships. When you block out the bad, you also block out the good. You can’t be selective…it just doesn’t happen.

I want the kind of friends who will “pick up my mat and carry me”. I really want to be one who will grab on and step up for someone else. Do you have four friends who would do this for you? Are you one of someone else’s four friends? Or even one? Do they know? It takes risk, it takes effort, and it doesn’t come easy. It’s a choice we make and it’s a choice I’m willing to take. How about you?