Friday, 22 January 2021
Title: Friendship
By: Prathab V

John 15:13-15 (KJV)
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are My friends if you do what I command you.
15 I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father._

“Mike, how do you define friendship?”, I asked my roommate one night during the final year of my undergraduate studies. He thought for a while and said, “A friend is someone who…someone who…doesn’t take advantage of you.”

For a brief moment, I was surprised. I was expecting him to say something more profound, something theological or a deeply relational observation. So, when Mike linked friendship to one not taking advantage of another, it intrigued me. “What do you mean? Why is being taken advantage of an important consideration in friendship?” I probed. That set him off to pour out his heart on his past experiences with his friends, or so-called “friends”.

To cut the long story short, Mike explained how he had been betrayed by those he trusted and how some of his friends have completely misunderstood him. As I listened, I realised that friendship may mean many things to different people. Each have their definition of friendship, shaped by one’s life experiences. 

Pondering on the defination of friendship, my attention shifted to the words of Jesus.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
To Jesus, giving up one’s life for those who he considered friends is the greatest expression of love and friendship. Jesus said those words as He was giving a discourse to his twelve close friends. Yes, Jesus called His 12 disciples as His friends. Later that same night He was arrested, the result of a scandalous betrayal.   

Jesus had twelve close friends. Unfortunately, most of them did not fully understand Him during His earthly ministry. One betrayed him, two brothers wanted to sit on His left and right in His glory and yet another denied him three times. If there’s one person who truly knows the pain of betrayal and deep disappointment, it has to be Jesus. Despite that, Jesus continued to love sacrificially, irrespective of His friends’ responses.

Jesus left His heavenly glory above and became one among us. He emptied Himself to become a mere mortal.  He did that to reconcile man to God by atoning for their sins. In fulfilling His destiny, Jesus endured great pain, humiliation and suffering. 

As Jesus said, there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for friends. And that is exactly what Jesus did on Calvary. To me, friendship is one of the most beautiful gifts that God has given us. 

This morning, think about your friends, even those who have misunderstood you or caused much pain. Take those disappointments to Jesus and forgive freely. If you are one, who long for true friendship, I pray that God will send His ministers to encourage You. In the meantime, we do have Jesus as a friend for life. Let’s give thanks for what Jesus has given us – true and sacrificial friendship. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for accepting me as Your friend, although I do not deserve it. Help me to also learn to be a good and true friend to others. In Jesus’ name I ask, AMEN

每日灵粮
星期五, 2020年1月22日
标题：友谊
作者：帕拉他伯(Prathab V.)
翻译：梁玉萍

约翰福音 15:13-15
13 人为朋友舍命，人的爱心没有比这个大的。
14 你们若遵行我所吩咐的，就是我的朋友了。
15 以后我不再称你们为仆人，因仆人不知道主人所做的事。我乃称你们为朋友，因我从父所听见的，已经都告诉你们了。

在我念大学最后一年的一个晚上，我问我的室友，“迈克，你如何定义友谊？” 他想了一会儿，说：“朋友是……不占你便宜的人。

我霎那间感到很惊讶。我期待他以一些比较深奥的话回应我，比如神学的, 或更深刻的关系性观察。所以，当迈克把友谊与一个人不利用另一个人联系起来时，我很感兴趣。“什么意思？为什么在友谊中被利用是一个重要考虑因素？”我探测。这使他开始毫无保留地倾诉自己过去与朋友或所谓的“朋友”的经历。

长话短说，迈克解释他是如何被信任的人背叛，以及他的一些朋友完全误解了他。当我在听的时候，我意识到友谊对不同的人可能意味着许多事情。每个人都有自己的友谊定义，这取决于一个人的生活经历。

在思考友谊的定义时，我把注意力转向了耶稣所说的话。“人为朋友舍命，人的爱心没有比这个大的。“ 对耶稣来说，为那些他认为是朋友的人放弃自己的生命是爱和友谊的最大表达。耶稣说这些话时，他正在向他的十二位的知己对话。是的，耶稣称他的12个门徒为朋友。当天晚上，因着一个可耻的背叛，他被逮捕。

耶稣有十二位知己。不幸的是，他在世上服侍时，当中的大多数人并不完全了解他。一个背叛了他，两个兄弟想在他的荣耀中坐在他的左右两边，还有另一个三次不认他。如果有一个人真正知道被背叛和失望的痛苦的，那就一定是耶稣。尽管如此，不管他朋友的反应如何，耶稣继续牺牲的去爱。

耶稣离弃他在天上的荣耀，成为我们当中的一员。他倒空了自己，变成了凡人。他这样做是为了替人们向上帝赎罪，使人与上帝和好。耶稣在完成自己的命定时，承受了巨大的疼痛、屈辱和痛苦。

正如耶稣所说，人为朋友舍命，人的爱心没有比这个大的。这正是耶稣在髑髅地所做的。对我来说，友谊是上帝赐予我们的最美的礼物之一。

今天早上，想想您的朋友，甚至那些误解了您或是造成很多痛苦的人。把那些失望带去给耶稣，并爽快地宽恕。如果您是渴望有真正友谊的人，我祈祷上帝会派他的传道人来鼓励您。与此同时，我们确实有耶稣作为终身的朋友。让我们感谢耶稣给予我们的 — 真诚和愿意舍己的友谊。

祈祷: 主耶稣，尽管我不配，谢谢你接受我为你的朋友。帮助我学会成为别人又好又真诚的朋友。我奉耶稣的名求，阿门。