Choosing Friends Wisely

When you have an Onesiphorus in your life … you are truly blessed!

 

I would love having a friend like Onisiphorous. No, really.

 Here’s what Scripture tells us about Onisiphorus. He was a personal friend of Paul the Apostle and received the following prayer of blessings from the aging apostle: “May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus” 2 Timothy 1:16–18). 

Onisiphorus was a dear friend, one who was not embarrassed by Paul’s current imprisonment. In fact, it was dangerous in Rome at this time to be a friend of Paul’s.  He had to work at this unique friendship, yet found many ways to bless Paul.

On your list of those you consider friends, how many of them show their fidelity by going out of their way for you? How many could you call at 3 am with an emergency and find them eager to immediately step up for you?

We may not equate him with more notable heroes of Scripture, but he meant the world to the Apostle who wrote almost half of the New Testament.

Recently, I was slowly moving through some of the more tedious passages of the Old Testament. I got to I Chronicles 27 and a very thorough accounting of the myriad people who made up King David’s leadership team – his ‘cabinet’ if you will. We are given all of their names. (over 150 of them!)

  • Some were soldiers and officers. Some had duties of caring for the temple and its many facets.
  • Others were public affair officials, some had leadership in the various tribes.
  • There were chief financial officers, managers of the king’s estates and vineyards.

My eyes were swimming as I contemplated this exacting list, and then I came to verse 33 and read: “Ahithophel was the royal adviser. Hushai the Arkite was the king’s friend.” NLT  Hushai was the king’s friend? Other translations add that he was a confidant, companion and counselor to the king. David wasn’t just a man after God’s own heart … he knew how to pick friends who could add value to his journey and joy to his life!

As you search for life-long friends, make sure you choose wisely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , ,

One Response to “Choosing Friends Wisely”

  1. WordPress › Error

    There has been a critical error on this website.

    Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.