The Omaha guide., 1946-06-01
E AT

PERMISSION.
FRIENDS AT BETHANY
LESSON TEXT-Mark 1899: Luke 10:
38-42: John Ills.
MEMORY SELECTION-Let US love
ore another: for love is of God.-I John
AT.
Friendship comes to those who are
friendly. That response of heart to
heart. which opens up the deep wells
Of mutual devotion. is one of life's
richest experiences.
There is too little true friendship
in the world because men and wom-
en- have not learned of the Lord
Jesus what it means to be a real
friend.
There are mutual privileges and
CORRESPONDENCE mutual responsible
ties in friendship. There are sor.
rows to share as well as joys. and
there are times when there must
be the ~outpouring of sacrifcial de-
votion.
There's not a friend like the low.
ly Jesus. no. not onei" is not just
the sentiment of a hymn writer.
There is no friend like the Lord. He.
therefore, merits our fullest de-
votion.
There are three incidents in our
lesson. all of which took place in
Bethany. the little village near Jeru-
salem where our Lord had found
real friends. He went there to rest.
to pray, and to find companionship.
These incidents reveal that
l. Love Gives All in ~Sacrifcial De-
votion mark 14:3-9).
A rather shocking thing took
place in the home of Simon. Jesus.
his distinguished guest. was at din
ner with the disciples. when a
woman walked in unannounced and
anointed his head with costly spike
, nard ointment. The disciples were
surprised, and led by the betrayer.
Judas. who had his hands on and
In the money bags. they protested
such awful waste.
Think of 1.-THE value Of this oint-
ment was 300 pence, the equivalent
1--WE are todd Of 500 days of work.
That means in our day it would be-
worth from three to five thousand
dollars.
She should have stopped to think!
Some lesser gift would have shown
her love, and this rich gift could
have been used for the poor!
Thus reasons the cool, calculat.
ing church member; but the be.
liever with his heart full of love fof
the Master, gives without stint.
The Lord honored her gift, and &C.
cepted it as the amounting of his
/ body for his coming death. He re.
minded them that they would al.
ways have the poor to care for. and
he would soon be gone.
Love which never overflows in the
abandonment of sacrifice for the
one beloved is a cold and distant
thing; in fact, one wonders if it
really should be digniied by calling
it love at all.
The Lord is looking for followers
who are willing to give themselves
freely and gladly for him. pour
ing out the lovely fragrance Of a
life fully yielded to him.
ii. Love Shares the Fellowship Of
Joy duke ~10:38-42).
The little home of Mary. Martha
and Lazarus in Bethany was light
ed up by that intangible but delight
full glow which comes with a friend
who honors ones home by his OF
her presence.
He had often been In this home.
Here he found relaxation and COM
fort. Here he gave of himself in fell
lowship and blessing.
But there was a shadow over this
visit. Martha, eager to have a good
dinner. was numbered" in heart
and 500 became critical of Mary
because she sat at Jesus feet.
Do not assume that Mary had mol
done her share of the work. She
had. but she "also sat at Jesus
feet" In other words. she knew
when the time had come to quit fuss.
ing and to get some real fellowship
out Of the joy Of having Jesus in
the home.
/ We who love and serve the Lord
need to watch lest we become so
numbered with much serving that
we lose out spiritually. We can be-
come SO busy with church work,
holding offices in religious organiza-
,tions, yes, even with preaching
and teaching, that we do not have
time for personal fellowship with
the Lord.
iii. Love Bears the Burden Of Sor-
row John lib.
The very home where Joy was the
portion one day, became the house
Of sickness, death and sorrow on
another day. Life is like that-we
may all expect that tragedy, sick
ness and trouble will come.
What then? Well, you will find
that some of your protested friends
will disappear. They are fair
weather companions. They have no
taste for storms. Real friends will
stand by, and what a treasure they
prove to bel
But here again, the best friend of
all is Jesus. When Lazarus was
sick, his sisters sent unto him"