Prophets have few friends. That's why they are known as loners. But yet Scripture tells us prophets had friends and some of them took immense risks to be friends with the prophets. Jeremiah had Baruch as his scribe and Ebed-Melech rescued him from dying of hunger in the water pit. Isaiah had a small circle of disciples (Isa 8). Elijah had Obadiah who was prepared to feed the prophets who hid in caves. But some prophets are not said to have any friends. Even their wives could act wayward like Hosea's wife. Ezekiel appears to have a wife who was the delight of his eyes and his faithful companion until her death just before the Temple fell to the hands of the Babylonians.
In tough times you will know who your friends are. Some friends are not really friends because they only care what they can get out of you, like filling in slots when they do not wish to preach that Sunday. If you can do something for them, they act like your friends. But they won't lift a finger to help anyone if there is no advantage to them. My pastor friend told me yesterday that he thought the one key characteristic of a pastor was that the person was willing to go the extra mile.
No comments:
Post a Comment