Hymns are indeed powerful and I celebrate every writer whose work has continued to impact others even long after they themselves have left this world and its deceptions behind.
This write-up is a product of an old, yet relevant and impactful hymn written by one of the soldiers of the Cross of Christ.
“I have found a friend in Jesus, He’s everything to me,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He’s my comfort, in trouble He’s my stay;
He tells me every care on Him to roll.
Refrain
He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne;
In temptation He’s my strong and mighty tower;
I have all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn
From my heart and now He keeps me by His power.
Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore,
Through Jesus, I shall safely reach the goal.
Refrain
He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessèd will;
A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,
From His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory to see His blessed face,
Where the rivers of delight shall ever roll.”
As I sang this hymn some days back, I realized how great Jesus’ friendship is to those who are truly His friends. For those of us who are His friends, all our grief He takes as He bears all our sorrows. When we are tempted we are sure He can be relied on to help us remain unmoved, unshaken and empowered to come out graciously.
The only friend who has asked that every care should be rolled on Him is Jesus and this is because He is bigger than the world itself and has taken care of all its problems right from its very inception. Since your problems cannot be bigger than that of the whole world put together, you can be sure that finding a friend in Jesus will not only ascertain you have prompt comfort but it will also enable you to have at least one person who will stay with you in your darkest hours.
In this friendship, all He has to offer is so great that anyone will be willing to be the friend of such a caring person who is willing to do such great things for his friends. The truth, however, is that those who have truly found a friend in Him are people who are willing to forsake everything and anything for Him. The willingness of such people to tear down every idol in their hearts all because of Him is what shows others that they have found a friend in Him indeed.
The people of old had things they considered very important and almost impossible to give up, but for the sake of their Maker they gave up such things. As a matter of fact, when several people recorded in the Scriptures as the fathers of faith gave up certain things in a bid to follow after God, quite a lot of people who did not understand the ways of God and how He was leading these people, saw such decisions as foolish and unreasonable.
Abraham left his father’s house for a place he only heard God say he should go to by faith( an unknown place). He was also willing to give up what he had waited for several years to get from God- His only son, Issac whom he loved so much. Elisha left his father’s business that he would have inherited and burnt the bridge in order to avoid being tempted to return to the same business. Peter left his fishing profession in order to begin to populate the Kingdom of God, Apostle Paul gave up his prestige as a prominent Jew and known persecutor of Christians. Jesus left His throne in Heaven to come to the earth as a mere mortal all because He wanted to accomplish the purpose His Father gave to Him for the redemption of mankind. None of all these decisions came easy to any one of them, it all involved making one sacrifice or another, yet because their friendship with Jesus was of great value to them they were willing to make such sacrifices.
The most amazing thing about the friendship that Jesus offers is that whatever we forsake for His sake only brings us to a point where He takes full responsibility of taking care of us and keeping us by His unfailing power. Why should I bother struggling to do for myself what He can do for me without Him having to struggle to get it done? I would rather give it all up for Him and let Him take care of me all the way.
One other thing that stands the friends of Jesus out is their ability to value His friendship above every other friendship. I learnt from my English teacher in High school the need for me to choose my friends and not allow people to choose me as their friends. She explained to me how people who become your friend simply because they think you are intelligent, brilliant, beautiful, or from a comfortable family may not love you for who you truly are. According to her, friendship is supposed to be meaningful and the moment you cannot state impactful reasons for which you choose your friends, you will only be in friendship with someone because of the reason for which they chose you, which might be simply to pass time or hang out at their leisure times, without any other meaningful reason for which you put time into being with them.
Friends that do not value the relationship you have are bound to leave you and sometimes for no valid reasons. Friendship with Jesus is, however, a consolation to His friends because it does not matter if the whole world forsakes such people, they are sure that one sure friend ( Jesus)will stand by them.
Are you always concerned about what others think or say about you to the point that you virtually live your life to please others even if it means displeasing God? Are you scared of losing friends who are not heading the same way with you, to the point that you do not mind compromising just so you can keep such people as your friends? Quit trying to keep people who do not value you or your eternal destination. Give Jesus that relationship right over your life and you will be amazed at how this unfailing friend will never leave you unattended, unguarded, or uncared for.
There is no other friend you can find that can assure you of eternal security but Jesus. The friendship with others here on earth is not such that guarantees anyone a place in Heaven, considering that everyone will stand before God as individuals and give an account of their lives. No one will be opportune to plead for bed space, not to talk of a mansion for his or her friend who was not a friend of Jesus while he or she was on earth. Jesus will, however, ensure that all His friends indeed, not those who profess to be, get to the place where He also is so that they can continue their meaningful and impactful relationship eternally.
Have you found a friend in Him? Are you willing to give up what matters most to you if He requests that you do so? You can have all the friends that matter in this world, the moment Jesus is not your friend, you are simply chasing after what does not matter in any way here on earth and in eternity.
Colossians 3:1-3, Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:33, 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22, John 6:31-40
Author Profile
- Temitope is the founder of thesoulmeal.com, an online platform that she shares with her God-given spiritual family and friends. She is a speaker, teacher and youth counselor. She is passionate about inspiring people to find their identity in Christ. Catch her interviewing inspiring leaders on Tongue of the Learned Podcast
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