Real Friends Can’t Be Bought
Monday - November 22nd
Scripture to Read Today: Luke 15:11-16
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
Luke 15:14
In the story of the prodigal son that Jesus tells in Luke 15, Jesus suggests that the wayward son spends his inheritance on wild living and partying with friends. Once he had spent everything, it seems his so called “friends” disappeared. They were not there for him when he hit rock bottom. As a matter of fact, they were nowhere to be seen. They completely abandoned him. Their abandonment added to his poverty.
Will Rogers famously said, “Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people that they don't like.”
Real friends can’t be bought. If people become your friend because of what you have or how much you are worth, they are not your friends. The shallowest of people present themselves as friends simply because of what they get out of you. They are not your friends.
It is also true that we must be careful not to be like the prodigal son’s fair-weather friends ourselves. The friendships we are a part of should not be based on anyone’s financial standing or willingness to pay for the party. The Book of Proverbs speaks much about what quality friendships are like.
“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). Reliable friends are not our friends because of what we have or don’t have. Reliable friends stick closer to us than a brother or a sister.
Why are your friends your friends? Why are you their friend?
The story of the prodigal son has a depth of sadness at various levels before the son returns home to the gracious, eager arms of his loving father. Too many friendships in this world are of the same kind as the prodigal and his friends. Too many friendships are based on what someone can give another rather than a deep commitment to each other.
Real friends can’t be bought. They are your friends no matter what you have or don’t have!