Greetings...friend

Every time that I read a passage in the Bible for a second, third, fourth, or maybe even fifth time I always seem to learn something new. Most of the time, that something new could be a single word that sparks my imagination to write a blog post about it.

Yes, the reasoning behind this post is noticing one word that I have never noticed before.

Matthew chapter 26 walks the readers through the end of Jesus's life. For those of you who don't know, one of the twelve disciples betrayed Jesus. Judas Iscariot was the one who did that. Judas accepted 30 silver coins in order to betray Jesus...the price of a slave.

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings Rabbi!" and kissed him. Jesus replied, "Do what you came for, friend." 
(Matthew 26:47-50)

Jesus called Judas his friend - let me remind you, Judas was one of Jesus closest friends and betrayed him and now he had a large armed crowd with him ready to arrest Jesus. This man was the reason that Jesus was betrayed and arrested...

Yet, he was still a friend to Jesus.

Jesus was a friend to everyone...Judas went from a friend to an enemy in our eyes, but in the eyes of Jesus he was still a friend. I think that is crazy!

We are called to live like Jesus. Who in your life has betrayed you that you wouldn't call a friend right now? I bet that a lot of people come to mind....Remember those people! Refer to them as a friend when you have to talk about them. When you think of them, forgive them for what they said or did and refer to them as a friend.

Jesus teaches us to love our enemies. Jesus teaches us to love one another as Christ loved us. The theme? Love others no matter what they say about you. If you get caught in the trap of worrying about what others have said, you will become mentally worn out for no reason. Who cares what other people think.

Friends are everywhere. My challenge to you, live a life where everyone is your friend. You can't fake it either, this has to be sincere and this will take effort. When we love others...that is pleasing to God.

Greetings...friend