BENEFITS OF FRIENDSHIP

Good morning everyone.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to THELMA and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to everyone.

 

Here is today's Bible lesson:

 

BENEFITS OF FRIENDSHIP

 

READ:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

 

Two are better than one,

because they have a good

reward for their labor.

-Ecclesiastes 4:9

 

Cicero was one of the greatest thinkers of the Roman Empire.  He was a skilled orator, lawyer, politican, linguist, and writer.  Still today he is quoted for his clear prose and practical wisdom.

 

For instance, of having friends he wrote:  "Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief."  He understood the double benefits of friendship along life's journey.

 

Nearly a millennium earlier, King Solomon had written about the value of friends as well.  In Ecclesiastes we read, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up" (4:9-10).  Certainly a life without friends makes our sojourn lonely and hard to bear.

 

That famous Roman and that Jewish king were right; Friends are important.  Friends serve as confidants, counselors, and burden-sharers.

 

Think about your friends.  Have you been neglecting those God has provided to share your joys and sorrows?  If so, seek out one of your friends for fellowship this week.  Remember, "two are better than one," because a friend can double our joy and divide our grief. -Dennis Fisher

 

A friend is "trust," a friend is "warmth,"

A friend is "always there"

To add to every happiness,

To lessen every care. -Anon.

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Friends are flowers in the garden of life.

 

INSIGHT

The Bible Reader's Companion puts today's reading in broader perspective:  "The Teacher...turns first to observable laws of nature and human experience that render man powerless to significantly affect his fate....The seasons govern our activities (3:1-8).  God establishes values (vv. 9-15) and punishes - and decrees death for all (vv.16-20).  A man has only one brief life to live (vv. 21-22).  During it he cannot escape suffering (4:1-3).  Even success has its drawbacks (vv. 4-8).  Trials make it difficult for a person to be independent or face life alone (vv. 9-12).  Political careers that appear to lift us above others, are unstable (vv. 13-16).  Taken together these facts of life show how limited our human powers are."

 

Have a blessed day.

God Our Creator's Love Always

Unity & Peace