Good Morning Brown Clee!

Today I want to think of the impact that having a friend can have – did you know that friends can change your life?  Have a look at this picture – does anyone know who it is?

Have you worked out who this dodgy character is?   It’s Burglar Bill from the book of the same name by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.  It is the delightful story of a thief who lives off other people’s fortunes, until two major events change his life forever. The first is when he steals a box only to find it contains a baby, and the second is when he, too, is burgled, by Burglar Betty. The improbable union that follows offers a convenient moral that turns both thieves into honest folk who vow to keep on the straight and narrow.  Their lives are all changed for the better – because they became friends!

In another book, The Bible, Jesus makes friends with a man called Zaccheus.  Now Zaccheus was a tax collector, but not an honest one.  Zaccheus stole from other people and took extra money when he gave them their tax bills and became very rich on all the money that he stole.   Something else that you need to know about Zaccheus – he was short!

So before Zaccheus met Jesus, he didn’t really have any friends because he was greedy, dishonest and selfish. Would you want to be friends with someone greedy, dishonest and selfish? But Jesus befriended him, he gave Zaccheus a chance and showed that he cared for him. I wonder why?

Jesus loved everyone when he lived on the earth. It didn’t matter how bad people were, Jesus was always there for those who needed him. This is true for us too – no one is so bad that God doesn’t love them. And the more time we spend with God – praying, thinking about him, finding out about him, the more we want to be like Jesus; kind, helpful and good.

Through showing Zaccheus his love and friendship, Jesus helped to change Zaccheus to being kind and caring.

Have a moment to reflect – have you always shown kindness and friendship to others when they aren’t being kind and caring?  I wonder if your friendship could help change how other people behave?  Friendship and love are powerful values and they can transform lives.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus Lyrics

Prayer of the Day

Dear Lord,
Thank you for our friends and for everything that they are.
Thank you for all their gifts and talents, the kindness they have shown us and the many things they have given to others.
Please continue to guide me, so that I may also be a good friend to others.
Amen.