Luke 15:20 - "And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him."
Great friends are such a blessing because they're always looking for ways to bless you. In contrast, other people are either not looking for ways to bless you, or they're only looking for ways to get something from you.
My friend Steve Wilson is a great example of a great friend because he's always looking for ways to bless. Like yesterday, Steve blessed me in a number of ways, but one of his ways is standard, namely, he always has some Bible insights that I hadn't seen before. Steve has these insights because he's looking for them, spending time with God's word, looking for things that will bring a blessing to his wife and his friends and the new people that he takes initiative to meet at his work.
It shouldn't surprise then that, as Steve is a great friend who is always looking to bless and is always looking for Bible insights that bless, it shouldn't surprise that Steve found and passed on a great blessing in today's Bible verse from Luke 15:20 where the wayward son went home to his father, but while the son was "still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion." What Steve looked for, found, and pointed out was that the father was on the lookout, looking everyday to see if his wayward son was coming home from his wayward past. And even better than a great friend, the father was not only on the constant lookout for his wayward son, but the father was also constantly thinking about and looking for ways that he could bless his wayward son if his son should ever come to his senses and come home.
Ya see, all this is a picture of how God was looking to bless us all to begin with. God clearly didn't make a thing until he had a plan to bless what he made. And part of God's plan was to give us great friends who would look for ways to bless us so we could be reminded that that's what God is always doing, looking for ways to bless us.
So that we might look for ways to do the same for others.
So, have a great day, Friends! Look for God's blessings; they're there! And look for ways to be a great friend to others because those opportunities are there too!
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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