Sun, 13 August 2017
During my college days, I served as a summer missionary. My partner was a guy from Arkansas State University named Dave McKinney. He was different from me in many ways—shy, quiet, calm, patient, slow, methodical, and meticulous. At times his character traits drove me crazy. And I’m sure my outgoing nature, quick pace, and impatience irked him. The summer ended and we went our separate ways.
Sometime later a group of students from my college went to an event where he was. They all ran into each other and discovered that David and I had served together. They talked for some time. Their comment to me upon their return was, “Jeff, we met a guy named Dave McKinney. He said he knew you and that you had served together as summer missionaries. You guys are just alike!” The comment stunned me.
We were not at all alike—when we started that summer. But I believe that the time we spent together changed the two of us. I’m not even sure that we were aware of the impact we were having on one another. I learned to slow down a bit; he learned to speed up a little bit. I learned to listen better; he learned to interact more readily. We rubbed off on each other. As iron sharpens iron, we had shaped one another hopefully to be more like Jesus!
God wants something similar to happen in our lives on a daily basis. He intends that our friendship with others be a means of growing in Christlikeness.
The book of Proverbs has some great counsel on friends. Our focus verse for Sunday will be Proverbs 13:20, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
May God bless the study of friendship that we undertake so that our relationships become more and more redemptive!
Proverbs: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Days “Friends” Proverbs 13:20
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).
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Sun, 13 August 2017
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