Arkansas State press., 1946-05-31

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 LIES
richest experiences.
There Is too little true friendship
In the world because men and wom-
en- have not learned Of the Lord
Jesus what II means to be a real
friend.
There are mutual privileges and
correspondingly 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 sacrihcial de-
| votion.
There's not a friend like the low
ly Jesus. no. not onei" Is not just
the sentiment Of q 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-
vOtiOD mark l4:3-9)
A rather shocking thing took
place in the home Of Simon. Jesus.
his distinguished guest, was at din
/ ner with the disciples. when
| woman walked in unannounced and
anonted 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 told Of 500 days of work
That means in our day it would be
worth from three to Ave 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, calcuIat-
ing church member; but the be-
I lever with his heart full OF love for
the Master. gives without stint
The Lord honored her gift, and ac-
cepted 1t 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 overilows in the
abandonment Of sacrifice for the
one beloved Is cold and distant
thing; in fact one wonders IL Il
really should be dignified by calling
il 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
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
cd up by that intangible but delight.
ful glow which comes with a friend
who honors ones home by his or
her presence
He had often been in this home.
Here he found relaxation and com.
for, Here he gave Of himself in fel.
lowship and blessing
But there vas shaduw over this
visit Martha. eager to have a good
dinner. was numbered In heart
and soon became critical Of Mary
because she sat al Jesus feet
Do not assume that Mary had not
done her share Of the work She
had. but she "also sat at Jesus
feet" lu 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 les, 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-
tons, 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 lli-0.
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 them Well. you viii 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 treasure they
prove TO be-
But here again, the best friend Of
all Is Jesus, When Lazarus was
sick. his sisters sent unto him"
Send for Jesus In the hour Of need
Oh. II IL true that he did not come