CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

So immediately I'm drawn to verse 9. Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Essentially every time forgiveness is paid out your capacity to love is enlarged. You make deposits into your spiritual bank account. When Jesus died on the cross, forgiveness was given to all. His love had no boundaries. If we are to follow the way of the Master, we must get comfortable with forgiveness regardless of how painful it is. Forgiveness came with a large price tag, unforgiveness will cost you even more.

There is an old song that says this: (What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grieves to bear. What a priviledge to carry, everything to God in prayer). Some say you will be lucky if you have more than two real friends in a lifetime. Verse 17 says that a friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. What makes us family is simple, the blood of Jesus. We are bound together by that one common denominator. I haven't heard the phrase in a long time, but when I was a kid being blood brothers was pretty common. It's interesting that in order to become blood brothers, two guys would pierce their hands and then bind them together. This simple pact would cause them to become brothers for life. I wonder if anyone ever saw the similarities to the nail pierced hands of Jesus producing the precious blood that would not only cleanse us but also unite us. Truly we are to be blood brothers and sisters. We should be ready to help at all times and hopefully we will eventually understand what loyalty really means. If you think you don't have any friends, just remember Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. You're not alone.