I have been blessed with friends who have traveled life’s road with me since we were just 19 years old. How precious is friendship. The older I get, the more I recognize and embrace it as a gift from God.
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,” God tells Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). Just so, God knows us. Yes, God has known us long before we took shape on this earth. God knows the wonderful ways in which we spread the gifts of love as well as every guilty moment of self-centeredness that has hurt another.
And God loves us! God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). I know more about God’s love because of my sisters in Christ.
Who has blessed your life with their friendship? Pray a prayer of thanks for this person and their gift of friendship. Let them know you value them.
This message was adapted from “Sowing and Reaping Through Life’s Seasons” by Susan Gamelin that appeared in the November 2001 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine. Today is the 13th Sunday after Pentecost. The readings are Jeremiah 23:23-29; Isaiah 5:1-7 (semicontinuous); Psalm 82; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 (semicontinuous); Hebrews 11:29–12:2; Luke 12:49-56.
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