A Pastor’s Thoughts: A Friend Indeed?

By Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church —

Recently, I had an experience that made me question whether or not I was a true, biblical type of friend. Jesus told a story about a man who was headed down the road. He encountered thieves and robbers. They beat him and left him for dead: Luke 10:30 (NLT) ³⁰ A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. As the story goes, three men approached the victim. The first man was a priest, a religious leader: Luke 10:31 (NLT) ³¹ “By chance, a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.

The story continues as a priest’s assistant walked by next: Luke 10:32 (NLT) ³² A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Finally, a despised Samaritan walked by: Luke 10:33–35 (NLT) ³³ “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. ³⁴ Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. ³⁵ The next day, he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’” 

I have a friend who lives in a nursing home. I have visited him on several occasions. A  month or so back, he shared with me that he has a new, serious medical problem. He thanked me for being his friend. A short time later, I became very convicted in my soul that I wasn’t a true biblical friend. I realized that I had been behaving much like the priest and the Temple assistant. I saw a man who desperately needed Jesus, and yet I failed to tell him what he needed to do to receive Jesus into his heart. I should have behaved like the despised Samaritan and given the man what he needed – JESUS!  

I’ve learned that, over the 43 years of being an ordained minister of the Good News of Jesus, a true biblical friend is one who loves others, tells people the truth, and shares with people the most important truth, which is how to know for sure that they will go to heaven when they die. Yet, in the course of being this person’s “friend” I was deeply convicted that I had failed. I had no other recourse but to act on my conviction. Here’s what I did.  

The next day, I went to see my friend. I shared with him how he could know for sure that  he knew that, when he dies, he will go to heaven for eternity. I shared with him that he needed to admit to God that he was a sinner: Romans 3:23 (NLT) ²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Next, I shared that he needed to confess his sin and trust Jesus as his Lord: Romans 10:9 (NLT) ⁹ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Finally, I  asked him if he wanted to call on the Lord to save him: Romans 10:13 (NLT) ¹³ For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” My friend and I prayed together, and he trusted Jesus as his Lord. What a wonderful thing to experience!    

My friend now knows, for certain, that when he dies, he will immediately be in the presence of Jesus in heaven. You can have this certainty by receiving Jesus into your heart today!