Day 3: Do you have a Christian friend that would be willing to jump from a plane with you?
I Samuel 18:7,
“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
My accountability partner and friend had the dream of jumping from a plane since childhood. So, for his fiftieth birthday he decided there was no better way to celebrate fifty years of life than trying to extinguish it in a few seconds of thrill seeking by jumping from a plane. He naturally invited me to go. I did.
As I stood at the open door of the small plane getting ready to jump out, I asked myself, “What are you thinking?” Jumping out of a perfectly good plane is not a normal, rational or sane thing to do in my mind. I kept hearing my mom say, “if your friends jumped off a bridge/cliff/plane, would you?” My answer to her now is, “depends on the friend.” Let’s face it, all “friends” are not created equal.
Proverbs in King James tells us the kind of friends we should have saying, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” What is amazing about this concept of iron is that when “iron sharpens iron,” both the sharpener and sharpenee are changed.
Jumping out of a plane wasn’t a life changing moment for me. However, it was symbolic of doing something I would have never considered without the encouragement of a trusted friend. As Christians, we are called to a world that hates us because it first hated Jesus. Sometimes fear can keep us from being and doing what God has called us to. We all need that friend who is willing to challenge us, give us a kick in the pants and pick us up when the world pushes us down.
Proverbs 27:17
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
Action: Thank a (non-pastor) believer who has inspired you.