No Greater Love...

A very good morning to you! It is Wednesday morning, 9th of February, the year 2022. And this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

“To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend.”

Job 6:14

And then the other scripture which brings a tear to my eye many a time is:

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

John 15:13

No greater gift can you and I give to our friends than to die for him or her. That is what we call extreme kindness and Jesus did that for us. Now, if you want to have a friend you must become friendly. A good test of who your friends really are is if they are around when the odds are down. Job found that one out. Jesus unfortunately also found that out in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the high priest’s soldiers came to arrest him. The Bible tells us that all of the disciples forsook Him and fled. But you know, just before that, Jesus said:

“…If you seek Me, let these go their way.”

John 18:8

That is indeed an incredible friendship. He says:

“I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5.

Isn’t that beautiful? There is a man in the Bible that we don’t hear much of, he is spoken very little of in the Bible. His name was Joseph of Arimathea. He came from Arimathea. He was a kind man and he was a genuine friend of Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross Joseph went to Pilate, at the risk of his own life, because he identified himself as a friend of Jesus. He asked for the body of Christ and Pilate allowed him to take it off the cross.

He took those horrible rusty nails out of Jesus’s hands. He took those horrible rusty nails out of Jesus’s feet. He washed His body, all the blood and the gore... he took that horrible crown of thorns off His head. He wrapped the body of Jesus in brand new, clean linen that he bought himself. He took the body and he put it in his tomb, the tomb that he had dug for himself out of solid rock and you know something? Jesus didn’t even know about it because He was dead at that time. He did it because he loved Him.

If you get to Heaven before I do, you will see Jesus sitting on His throne. In front of those myriads of angels and millions of believers, worshipping Him, and sitting very close to His side you will find Joseph of Arimathea.

I want to encourage you today to go out and be kind to people. Be a friend to those who do not have any friends because this is what the Lord Jesus Christ requires from you and me.

God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.