Do you have
friends? I’m not asking if you have
folks who are simply acquaintances. Do
you have people who really care about you, people who seek to help in all times
of life? A true friend provides love
through their time and their actions.
Real love does not take, it gives.
So, a friend is someone who gives of themselves to help you. Do you have a friend, or real friends?
This past week I
have been blessed twice by friends on the Kenai Peninsula. First the Mize family has blessed me. I met Wayne and Mary Mize in the mid 1990’s
through church business. Together we
share faith in Jesus, and I have come to know the Mize’s through many and
varied activities and ministries of the Lutheran Church in Alaska. I served on committees with Mary, and I have
been fishing with Wayne. So, when my
wife, Kathy, and I began looking at a small cabin on the Kenai in 2018, Wayne
was right there. He helped in the moving
of the cabin. Wayne also helped me with clearing our lot and setting up our cabin. They offered their home as a place of
storage. Wayne and Mary met our dog, Mat,
and welcomed him into their home. In
fact, the Mizes and their dogs have grown to care for Mat. So, when we have traveled, without my asking,
Mary offered to keep Mat for us while we were gone. You know that watching someone’s dog for a
couple of days is a gift. But, caring
for someone’s dog for months at a time is an enormous act of giving. Let me assure you, Wayne and Mary don’t just
offer Mat an outside doghouse in the Alaskan winter. In some ways Mat has become part of the Mize
family. They feed him better and more
often than we do. My wife calls the Mize
home “The Doggie Spa.” And when I gave
them a gift certificate to help pay for dogfood, I was told, “Don’t do that
again.” What a gift! What friends!
I was also blessed
this week by another friend, Fred Vasilie.
Fred took me and some others halibut fishing. I’ve known Fred’s family for about 30
years. In the past Fred often asked me
to go fishing with him, but I was usually busy as pastor of St. John Lutheran
Church and I somehow never found time to fish with him. However, since 2017 Fred has taken me halibut
fishing along with different groups of my friends. Do you know what a guided halibut fishing
trip costs? But, Fred is not a guide, he
is a friend. He is a man who knows Jesus
and knows Jesus’ love. Fred often shows that love to family and friends with
fishing trips. So, this past Tuesday,
before an Alaska Church Worker’s Conference, Fred took me fishing, along with Licensed
Deacon, Gerry Zellar and our friend Tom Anderson. Fred also took Pastor Bill Hilgendorf and
Pastor Craig Schultz on this trip.
During these trips with Fred I have enjoyed the privilege of discussing the
love and the goodness of God. We often share
prayer requests. Believe it or not, the
love of Jesus fills Fred’s boat, at least in my experience. To be able to experience the beauty of God’s
creation in Alaska, and to share faith and friendship is a real gift! Thank you, Fred!
The book of
Proverbs shares God’s wisdom about friends and friendship. Perhaps you know the truth of Proverbs 17:17, “A friend
loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Do you
have friends that you trust, who care for you in times of great trial? God also teaches us in Proverbs 18:24, “A man of many companions may come to
ruin, but there is a friend who
sticks closer than a brother.” What
a gift to have someone who cares, who listens, and who helps, just because of
who they are – a friend!
It is very important
to remember that our best friend is Jesus.
On the night Jesus was betrayed, on the night when He instituted the
Lord’s Supper, after washing the disciples’ feet, before His prayer in the
Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus called His disciples friends. He calls us friends. Please read these verses
from John 15. “13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's
business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned
from my Father I have made known to you.”
If an earthly friend
listens to us, if they care for us, if they love us and give of themselves for
us, then Jesus befriended us even more than any other true friend we have. A friend shows patience and kindness. Think how patiently and kindly Jesus treated His
disciples, and thankfully consider Jesus’ patience and kindness toward us! Friends listen to us. Jesus teaches about prayer and, as God, He listens
to us and answer our prayers. Friends
help in times of trial. Think how Jesus is our Good Shepherd who is with us in
the Valley of the Shadow of Death. True
friends give of themselves to help us. But,
Jesus gives his very life for us to give forgiveness us and eternal life. As Jesus taught, “13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends.” Jesus is truly our very best friend.
I pray you have a
true friend, or true friends. So I will also
ask, are you a friend to others? I hope that
I am a true friend. I hope that I
listen, that I care, that I help, and that I give of myself. Actually, the best gift I can give to one of
my friends in this world, is to share my best friend, Jesus.
As I write this
devotion, Wayne Mize is taking care of our dog.
This week Fred took me and some of my other friends fishing. Saying “thank you” to them seems too small a
way to show appreciation to these friends.
Who are your friends? How do you
show real friendship to others?
A Child of God, Thankful for Christian
Friends,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Here is our dog, Mat, at the home of Wayne
and Mary Mize on Saturday evening, May 22.
Does Mat look relaxed? Thank you, Wayne and Mary! https://photos.app.goo.gl/gp9kcaqLC5ehRD838
P.P.S. As I wrote above, Sterling friend, Fred
Vasilie, had room in his boat for some fellow fishermen before the beginning of
the Alaska Workers’ Conference. What a
day of halibut fishing! Thank you,
Fred! https://photos.app.goo.gl/DG6DdN16fAwRcoGT7
P.P.S. I do keep working on our garden, but have no new pictures this week. We will pick volunteer spinach this coming
week. (Last year’s spinach re-seeded itself again.)
*****
ABOUT
THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019 from serving as senior
pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly
devotion previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor."
When I retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this
weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God."
Since
I am no longer senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send
this message to those who asked to receive it. (Though I am now serving
again part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.) Perhaps you also know that I “killed” my
computer on November 7, 2020. In so
doing I lost, for a time at least, all my e-mail contacts. So, I was really goofed up. Many who were receiving this devotion each
week were no longer receiving it. I
tried to rebuild my distribution list, but I am not sure how accurate I have
been.
So, if you stopped receiving these
devotions and wondered why, now you understand.
And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive
them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution
list. My e-mail address is
jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions
help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father,
Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus,
St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
cell phone -
907-841-4066
Home phone -
907-746-5131
