You Have a Friend in Jesus

“Love is a many splendored thing” as the 1955 movie with William Holden and Jennifer Jones claimed but for many of us this can be a hurtful phrase because we are single. Each of us want to be loved and have a special someone to love, but life does not always work that way and we find ourselves alone. Being alone can be challenging and very difficult, but being alone on Valentine’s Day can be especially hard. As others exchange flowers, candy and sweet sentiments, we tend to focus on a mindset that tells us: ‘everyone’ has ‘someone’ to eat dinner or lunch with, or to just take a walk or drive with, or to watch a movie with.

Many times, we miss the one who is right in front of us, JESUS, the one who wants to be our closest friend! He does not force us to walk or talk with Him and He holds no grudges against us. He loves us unconditionally. So why do we find it hard to spend time with Jesus? Why do we forget that He is ALWAYS there for us?

Young Joey was having a difficult time with issues at school and with his family. He felt alone and really needed someone to listen and understand him. His neighbor tried to encourage Joey to spend time with Jesus and tell Him what the concerns were. Joey prayed but he wasn’t sure Jesus really heard him. He couldn’t see Him, so how could Joey know Jesus was really listening to him. Joey prayed: “God, I just need to have ‘someone with skin on’ to talk to. Amen.” Then Joey remembered his neighbor and ran to his house to visit and talk things over. God had provided a special friend; someone with ‘skin on’ after all!

Because we can’t physically ‘see’ Jesus or God, I believe He has given us good friends that show His love to and for us. These friends are the ones with ‘skin on’. So, as you may feel alone this Valentine’s Day, reach out to someone else who may be lonely too. You can bring JOY to others by: sending them a card of friendship, taking dessert to a lonely neighbor, or making a phone call to brighten someone’s day as well as your own.

We DO have a Friend in Jesus, just as the song says: (verse 1 below)

“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer!”

John 15:15 “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.”

Proverbs 18:24 “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother