“It happened again last night,” Stan said with a smile.
“What happened again?” I asked.
“My wife and I were at the Good Fortune Chinese Restaurant and I got a fortune cookie that spoke volumes about my faith walk.”
“Volumes on a tiny piece of paper? I said.
“That’s right,” Stan replied. “And sometimes I wonder if there isn’t someone in the back room writing them just for me!”
“What’d this one say?”
Stan pulled it out of his pocket and read, ‘A friend will come through at just the right time’.”
“You have a friend like that?” I asked.
“I’ve talked about her before,” Stan replied, “but there was a true friend who was very instrumental in helping me come to the truth of the availability of God’s free and gracious gift of life with Him for eternity when my time here is completed.”
Continuing, he added, “And that led to me pursuing the eternal life of knowing God the Father and Jesus in an ever-deepening personal relationship while I remain on this side of eternity.”
“And you think it was at just the right time?” I asked.
“It took me a long time to finally accept the truth,” Stan replied, “but I finally did and it was just the right time. God knew it was the right time for me, and my friend was there willing to be a part of what God wanted at that right time.”
“So,” I said, “she was a friend who was there at the right time!”
“That’s what friends do,” Stan replied. “And it makes me wonder about myself. Am I there at the right time?”
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Bible verses to consider:
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13.
There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24.
You are My friends, if you do what I command you. John 15:14
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for the people you brought into my life to be friends who cared enough to bring me to the truth of the gospel so I have the assurance of life eternally with you and can pursue the eternal life of knowing you and Jesus. I confess that too often I am not the friend you intend because I do not manifest you to others in the way you have for me. Please forgive me and please help me in following every step of your lead in being the friend of and to others just as you intend. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Do you consider yourself a friend of Jesus? If no, why? If you do, what does that mean to you? Are there friends in your life with whom you have not shared the truth of the gospel? If so, why? What will it take for you to be the friend that will make a difference in the eternal destination and in the lives of your friends? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 