Worthy Devotions - Daily Christian Devotional » Friendship

Hebrews 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

We’ve been talking about freeing others from their burdens and bonds. This scripture tells us we are to remember those that are bound — as though we are actually bound along with them!

The North American Indians have a more eloquent word for ‘friend’ than we do in English. In their language, the word for friend literally means, “the one who carries my sorrows on his back.” Isn’t that the ideal friend? One who truly carries our problems!

All of us are bound by different things and suffer from our individual struggles. And we need to be carrying each other’s sorrows as if they were our own.

Our best friend has carried our sorrows. Let’s strive to be more like Him. There’s so much work to be done!

Luke 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

A friend sent us this very touching story and we had to share it with you.

Some time ago there was a story in the San Francisco Chronicle about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, and a line tugging in her mouth.

Thankfully, a fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was in such bad condition that the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her, a very dangerous proposition.

One slap of the enormous whale’s tail could kill a rescuer. Still the brave rescuers worked for hours cutting her free. One guy who was cutting the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time. Eventually they were able to free her.

As soon as she became free, the divers say she began to swim in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

Let’s take a lesson from this beautiful story. So often we let the hurting in our churches and communities fall through the cracks, never to be seen again. But it is a brave soul who gathers up an army of rescuers to reach out to a suffering or hard to reach brother or sister and rescue him or her from the binding entanglements of this world. Just as the Lord has so mercifully reached out to us, we need to do the same. Whether it is a gift, an invitation to a meal or a smile and a word of encouragement, let’s strive to reach out.

We need to be the first to initiate this kind of rescue team for our brothers and sisters. Believe you me, it will be just as beautiful and rewarding too. There’s so much work to be done!

Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

My wife was telling me about a conversation she had the other day, with an Israeli friend, a born evangelist and wonderful woman of God, who’s been experiencing some difficulties. A set of complicated circumstances have occurred in her life over the past year, and to make matters worse, people, sadly even fellow believers, have been judging her, saying that she must be doing something wrong or be in some kind of sin, to be in her situation. Furthermore she added that she didn’t feel she has a great testimony right now and as a result, hasn’t been able to share God’s love and truth much because of the way she feels people see her.

That makes me angry. Satan is so cruel! And I think most of the time we don’t even realize how he manipulates people and situations so that people are hurt and ultimately the Gospel cannot go forth.

What this lovely lady doesn’t realize is that she does have a great testimony. Quite frankly, she has the best testimony anyone could have! She is clinging to Jesus through this troubling time in her life — and that is a huge testimony! It’s easy to love and praise God when we’re comfortable and have everything we need but much, much harder to do it when things get tough.

Maybe you can relate to our troubled friend’s feelings today. Please be encouraged by this: It is only in the low places the Lord meets us with a special strength to overcome things we could never conquer ourselves. It is only in the low places that we can identify with His suffering. It is only in the low places that we can identify with others suffering. Don’t back away. Run to His embrace. Receive His love and mercy. And give it away to others in need. There’s so much work to be done.