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Our friend Jesus will always answer when we call.
This month, young people across the nation will graduate. They may be moving beyond the comfortable surroundings of their local high school, leaving the smells of their college dorm rooms, or facing the reality that living at home will soon be a thing of the past.
Some say, however, that the friendships made in high school or college last a lifetime. Many graduates agree to stay in touch and even say to call them for anything at any time. I was one of those graduates. I have stayed in touch with a few classmates but not as many as agreed upon. There are only a few graduates for whom this agreement remains entirely true.
Limitations of earthly friends
American singer, songwriter, and musician Carole King wrote a 1971 hit song entitled “You’ve Got a Friend.” Her dear friend James Taylor also recorded it. If you are from my era, you may have heard it and maybe even shed a tear when you thought about that friend you can count on in difficult situations. He or she will drop everything, offer anything, and travel any distance to come to your aid. This type of friendship is what Carole King wrote about in the refrain of her song:
You just call out my name
And you know, wherever I am,
I’ll come runnin’
To see you again.
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call,
And I’ll be there.
You’ve got a friend.
These words of committed friendship are spoken by new graduates or seasoned veterans in life who have experienced dark days and cloudy situations in this world. But though you and I wish our friends would always be there when we beckon, we know that our earthly friends, try as they may, cannot come running at our every call. Some may not be able to, while others may choose not to come. It doesn’t matter if it is winter, spring, summer, or fall, they just can’t be there. I think you would agree that doesn’t make them any less a friend. They simply know their limitations.
Promises from our heavenly friend
However, we can always call on another friend. We close our eyes, fold our hands, and pray to him—just as he told us to do: “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15).
You’ve got a friend! He is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He has been present since before the creation of the world, and he is present now. We have his promise that he will come whenever we call on him. Many of us can testify to him fulfilling this promise, especially if our skies have turned dark with the death of a loved one, with a life-threatening illness, by job loss, through loneliness, or whatever else casts a pall over life.
We can call on our friend Jesus. Our friends in Christ, near or far, can also call on him for us. Jesus promises to be a friend who is attentive to our needs. He is a friend who can be at our side, instantly, to hold us up when we need him the most. He is a friend who answers when we call.
You and I have a friend in Jesus!
Featured image courtesy of Fox Valley Lutheran High School, Appleton, Wisconsin.
Author: Snowden Sims
Volume 109, Number 05
Issue: May 2022
