FRIENDSHIP – A bond of trust and care between people who enjoy being with each other.
One of the most important decisions you will ever make in life is the friends that you choose. Right now, you may have little choice in where you live or what kind of car you ride in, but you often get the chance to pick the people you “hang out” with. John Newton didn’t always make good choices with his friends. He had a very godly mother who taught him how to read by age 4. He also memorized lots of verses from the Bible and much of a book by Isaac Watson that taught boys and girls how to live to please Jesus.
However, when John was only 6, his mother died. Soon, John found himself in a strange boarding school and it was then that he began to “hang out” with the wrong crowd. Perhaps he felt lonely or very sad, but whatever the reason, he joined a gang of older boys who got into all kinds of trouble. They would steal and destroy other people’s property. John joined in, and he soon began to use swear words and tell wicked stories. His mother would have been very sad to see what her son was becoming. This made God very sad too.
Several times, his mischief almost cost him his life. At those times, John would think about God and try to live right, but he quickly went back to his bad ways.
When John was old enough, his father got him a job as a sailor on a merchant ship. John was around very evil men. John determined that he would be the worst one of them all! Since he knew stories from the Bible, John often told them to the other sailors, but he would twist them and make fun of God and the people in the Bible. The sailors loved this, and John became very popular with them. The captain, though, warned John to stop. He said that God would bring down punishment on John and the ship if he didn’t stop. John told the captain that he didn’t believe in God. (Hebrews 13:5)
The boat he was on, the Greyhound, was caught in a terrible storm. The men had to throw much of their cargo overboard. The water was coming in faster than they could pump it out. It looked like the ship was going to sink, and they would all die. The captain blamed John for all of this. God was punishing John and the whole crew for John’s wickedness. As John struggled at the wheel in the storm, he thought back to his mother and the truth she had taught him as a child.
He knew that if he died, he would NOT go to live with Jesus in heaven, but would go to a terrible place of punishment forever. John told God that he was sorry and asked God to forgive him. Even though John had been very bad, God’s love and grace were greater, and God did forgive John.
John became a minister, and he wrote books and songs. His most famous song is “Amazing Grace.” No matter how bad we are, we can find complete forgiveness because Jesus paid the price for all of our sins on the cross. If we ask Him, he gladly forgives our sins and makes us fit for heaven.
Let’s quickly look at the difference between bad friends and good friends:
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BAD FRIENDS are those who encourage you to do wrong things like:
- Disobeying those in authority over you (God, your parents, teachers, and policemen).
- Smoking, drinking alcohol, or doing drugs.
- Destroying other people’s things.
- Being mean and making fun of other people.
- Wasting your time rather than doing things to help others.
- Not following God.
GOOD FRIENDS help you:
- Get closer to God.
- Be the best you can be and do your best in all things.
- Keep your life free from those things that will hurt you, like drugs.
- Do things that help others and make our world a better place.
The Bible also tells us that friends make life better, and friends help us when we are down.
"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he hath not another to help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Jesus wants to be your very best friend. He is always there to help and encourage you. He also wants you to make good choices in the friends you have in your life.