A Friend Who Will Find You

I was reading in 2 Timothy 1 today. Paul says two things there that jumped off the page at me.

First he says "Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus." That word "standard" is what stood out. Paul is saying, "what I am saying comes from Christ and it's the standard and you should hold on to."

The timeless principle there is that the words of God, whether spoken by Christ or Paul or any other writer of scripture should be our standard - the thing that guides our lives.

Then Paul goes onto talk about the folks who have abandoned him, let him down. Except for one person, Onesiphorus. He says that this guy was not embarrassed to be seen with Paul even though Paul was NOT someone to be seen with. Paul was actually in prison at the time, for his beliefs.

And then Paul says this about Onesiphorus - "...when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me AND found me.."

I think EVERYONE needs a friend like that, a friend who will EAGERLY search for you and will not quit until they find you. Here's what I think that friend looks like:

They will...
...stand with you when no one else will.
...encourage you when all you want to do is whine and everyone else
is tired of listening to you.
...tell you what you NEED to hear not what you WANT to hear.
...hold you accountable.
...help you see things for what they are.
...love you no matter what.
...risk for you.
...look for you and not quit until they find you.

I don't have a lot of people in my life like that, but I'm truly glad for the few that I do.