Jewels From John # 18 - A Faithful Friend
Devotion # 18
Now Jesus
was deeply troubled, and He exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will
betray me!” John 13:21 (NLT)
Let's for a moment, put ourselves in the place
of Jesus to try and understand the pain and heartache He must have
gone through, knowing that one of His 12 chosen disciples - Judas Iscariot, was conspiring to betray Him for a measly 30 pieces of silver.
Judas' association and friendship with Jesus was
for three and a half years; he stayed with Jesus, ate with Him, heard all His teachings, experienced first-hand, all the miracles and wonders He
performed, was in-charge of the group’s finances, had his feet washed by Jesus
and was the recipient of Jesus’ unconditional love. No wonder Jesus
was deeply troubled and sorrowful at the thought that His friend to whom He had entrusted so much had turned his heel against Him.
Some of us may have been through a similar situation where someone close to us, whom we loved and trusted, turned
against us. Most often our initial response to such an experience, is hurt and anger. If not dealt with, this often turns to bitterness and distrust of people in general. This
kind of response, is not beneficial to us, and definitely not what God desires of us. Instead we can choose to model after Jesus, and decide to forgive and love
those who have been unfaithful to us.
It is also a good reminder to us
that we should strive to be those loyal and loving friends whom others can
depend on. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater
love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”(NKJV)
and that’s what Jesus did for us when He willingly laid down His life for us on
the cross of Calvary. He is not only our best friend but the greatest example
of the kind of friends we should be to others.
Let us imitate Jesus, our faithful
friend who commanded us to "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34 (NIV)
If you were blessed by this devotion, please share it with others
Esther Collins
Email: thelifetransformingword@gmail.com
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