Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Job 6:14
Not Forsake Them
Around the time Job’s friends, who had come to comfort him, began to blame him for his circumstances, Job said, that whoever “withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14), and that’s just what Job’s friends did…they forsook him and then blamed him for his suffering, but God straightened all of that out, and his friends were glad to have Job intercede for them by making offerings before God so that He wouldn’t destroy them for forsaking their friend Job.
Not Help Them
The Apostle John wrote, “whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him” (1st John 3:17)? Good question, isn’t it? When you need help, you find out who your real friends are, but your friends and my friends also find out if we’re one of their friends by whether we’ll help them out or not.
Not Support Them
If we fail to support our friends when they need our help, it is sin to us, because whoever fails to good when they see the need, fails to do what God bids us to do, because, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Prov 17:17). A real friend won’t just love us in good times, but also in the deep, dark valleys of life. We are to love our brothers and sisters in the good times and bad, when crushed and when celebrating, and weep with them when they weep, and rejoice with them when they rejoice (Rom 12:15).
Not Listen to Them
I have learned not to take to heart every compliment I get because it can puff me up, but I have also learned I must remain humble enough to admit mistakes and confess them when others point them out to me. My friends do me a great favor by telling me the truth, and they do no good when they flatter me. Solomon understood that, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov 27:6).
Conclusion
I can’t count the number of times my friends have come to my aid, and I have tried to help them when they needed it, so if you have friends as I do, let’s try to never forsake them, let’s help them when they need it, let’s support them when it’s necessary, and let their words correct us, if need be, and I’m sure they will always be a need for that. That’s what friends are for.
