I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts. Psalm 119:63
“Good friends are among our greatest blessings; they may keep us back from much evil, quicken us in our course, speak a word in season, draw us upward, and draw us on. But a bad friend is a weight continually dragging us down and chaining us to earth. Keep company with an irreligious man, and it is more than probable you will in the end become like him. That is the general consequence of all such friendships. The good go down to the bad, and the bad do not come up to the good.”
J. C. Ryle in Ancient Paths: Negotiating Life Wisely (Mount Morris: Lamplighter, 2014) 121-122.
Thank God for generous friends. They bless us at every turn. They often think of our needs even before we do.
Today I fly to Minneapolis to teach on Saturday night and three services on Sunday at Refuge Church in Zimmerman, MN. I am thankful that my friends there encouraged me to bring my son, Sammy, so they could take us out fly fishing for muskie. And Sammy, now that he has grown up as a man, has also become to me a generous friend. He thoughtfully tied up some amazing flies for us to use on our adventure. Will we each catch a muskie on a fly rod? Who knows. It is a rare feat! Regardless I celebrate because get to enjoy precious time with generous friends.
Have any generous friends? Perhaps resolve today to become a generous friend to all and see what happens!