Good friends #2

Aroldo took Jose’ (dialysis) out for a special day to honor him for graduating from junior high. Dottie & I took the rest of the dialysis children out for a special meal & time with us.

Oscar went to the USA last night while Victor & Celia will travel to the states for 2 weeks with Jerry’s family.

Tychicus and Onesimus were the first of 6 friends mentioned by Paul to reveal to us that although he lost his original friends when Christ entered his life he was given new friends by the Lord Himself.

Now we come to Aristarchus who is first seen in prison with Paul as recorded in Colossians 4:10. Anyone who traveled with Paul or was seen to be near Paul was most assuredly going to get in trouble with both the Pharisees and the Romans. Aristarchus traveled with Paul to Ephesus where they were then grabbed and dragged through a mean, cursing, angry crowd (see Acts 19:29) and tradition tells us that Aristarchus was eventually killed for his faith in Christ.

Have you had fair-weather friends? If I had a list of people who began helping at Casa or even came to “help” as a staff member who have deserted us it would fill a small book. Fair-weather friends want the glory but not the labor. Proverbs 19 tells me that “wealth brings many friends but poverty causes friends to desert you”.

This means that when things are going well you will have more people than you can count who want to be part of the work but if things get difficult they will flee like geese flying south.

The next friend that Paul mentions is Justus him Paul refers to as a friend who comforts. In Colossians 4:11 Paul writes that Justus and the other 5 were the only ones who stuck with him from the old crowd. This toe of friend shares your vision, is willing to work to make the dream come true, and as my grandfather use to tell me , “Grab the plow son and get it done”.

We saw Dependability, Trustworthiness, Steadfastness and now LOYALTY as the characteristics of Paul’s first four friends that he mentions.