Tiny Devotional for Saturday, 11-27-2021

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the ladies return home today!

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6, NASB


Let’s get this out of the way first: not everybody who wounds you is a friend, and not everybody who kisses you is an enemy. In fact, you want to bet the other way. 

I feel compelled to write this, because I had a friend who just couldn’t handle nice treatment. He wasn’t able to receive sustained warm affection, and I was shocked one time when he accused me of bad motives after I gave him a present. He was neither a bad nor stupid guy; he had just been badly programmed, and had some issues with his wetware as well. 

That’s REALLY not the sort of issue this verse is addressing, but too many people accept bad treatment because it IS a form of attention. So,  I mention it here. 

This is what makes this verse work: a TRUE friend loves you at all times, and always desires your good. They are willing to risk your momentary aggravation by confronting you when you wander off the path. This is NOT the busybody, who is always correcting and criticizing! 

I’m thinking of three particular true friends from church; and...

...I just stopped counting at three, because I realized I have a LOT who fit in this category. What a blessed man I am, to have friends like these!

In about 10 minutes, I’m going to join a ZOOM meeting with some of these friends, who will provide me with kisses and wounds as needed, because they love me.

Peace be on your household.

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