Friendship

Ruth’s Commitment to Naomi

Naomi told Ruth, “Orpah has gone back to her people and her gods, and you should go back with her” (v. 15). Ruth answers her by begging her not to make her go back and said she wanted to go where Naomi goes and to stay where Naomi stays (v. 16). She made it evident that this …

David and Jonathan’s Covenant

After leaving Ramah, David returned to Jonathan, his closest friend and brother-in-law, for help and advice (vv. 1-4). Knowing of Saul’s hostility toward him, David sought to learn from Jonathan what the real problem was and if there might be a reconciliation. The test would be David’s absence …

Paul’s Closing Remarks

As Paul comes to the close of his letter, he talks about some of his friends who have helped him in the ministry. Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus were part of a committee sent from Corinth to Ephesus to confer with Paul about church problems. However, these men did more than share …

IllustrationTwo travelers who meet a bear

Two travelers were on the road together, when a bear suddenly appeared on the scene. Before he observed them, one made for a tree, and climbed up into the branches and hid there. The other …

IllustrationJackie Robinson comforted by Pee Wee Reese

One example of friendship remains with me as vividly as the moment I first heard of it as a boy. In his first seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play Major League baseball, faced venom nearly everywhere he traveled; fast balls at his head, …

IllustrationEvery man needs at least two good friends

As his UCLA football team suffered through a poor season in the early 1970s, head coach Pepper Rodgers came under intense criticism and pressure from alumni and fans. Things got so bad, he remembers with a smile, that friends became hard to find. “My dog was my only true fri …