A FRIEND AND A LION

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 27-28

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

After preaching the gospel in Philippi, Paul passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia with Silas during his second missionary journey, traveling on the Ignatia Way from Philippi to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1). Amphipolis was one of the most important cities of Macedonia in antiquity. The “Lion of Amphipolis” has been dated from the fourth century B.C. It stands on a restored pedestal on the very spot where its broken and scattered pieces were found. It was either a funerary monument or a monument erected to commemorate some as yet unidentified military victory. For readers of 100words, the Lion can remind us to be, as Proverbs 28:1b says, “Bold as a lion.” To my photographer son, Rev. David R. Mainse (seen in the photo above), I say, “Never flee from a challenge. As a righteous man you are as bold as a lion.”

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: Proverbs 27:17, 28:1

As iron sharpens iron,

So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

…The wicked flee when no one pursues,

But the righteous are bold as a lion.

The word “friend” in our first key verse refers back to 27:10a which says, “Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend.” True friends never forsake one another, and true friends interact with each other in a way that “sharpens!” “Dull” is not very attractive in any life! When we love each other, we want the very best for our friends, and therefore we are not afraid to confront, to argue sometimes, and to seek change for the better, humbly recognizing that we too need to change, more often than not…probably more than our friends need to change.

In the second key verse, the word “BOLD” stands out BOLDLY! The Apostle Paul was a true friend of the young Pastor Timothy. Iron was sharpening iron in Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 4:2, “PREACH THE WORD! BE READY IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON. CONVINCE, EXHORT, WITH ALL LONGSUFFERING AND TEACHING!” In 2 Timothy 4:5 Paul cuts with the sharp iron sword of God’s Word when he writes, “YOU BE WATCHFUL IN ALL THINGS, ENDURE AFFLICTIONS, DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST, FULFILL YOUR MINISTRY” (see 2 Timothy 4:1-5).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I thank You for my friends. I pray that I will consistently cherish friendship, never taking my friends for granted, and always having their best interests in my prayers and my actions. I thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are my very best true Friend forever. I ask for grace to be as Proverbs 28:1 says, “As bold as a lion,” in telling everyone about my Friend, Jesus, who is also the Son of God and my Saviour and Lord, in whose Name I pray, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I’ve just watched again the interview I did many years ago with Dr. Roland Harrison, the lead Hebrew scholar in the “New King James” translation of the Bible (If you missed it, click here). With us on that same edition of 100 Huntley Street was Dr. Charles Ratz. In Massey Hall, Toronto, during my college graduation exercises, my Dean of Theology, Dr. Ratz, gave the charge to the graduates. He quoted the Apostle Paul saying, “I CHARGE YOU THEREFORE BEFORE GOD AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO WILL JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD AT HIS APPEARING AND HIS KINGDOM: PREACH THE WORD!” That charge sharpened me and still does. That charge cut deeply into my innermost being and still does. It helped motivate me to be “BOLD AS A LION” throughout the almost 57 years since that time. This has been purely and completely God’s grace which has been given to me. I will be eternally grateful to my friends who, through the years, have been true and faithful in their friendship. I have been corrected, and as a result have become, I think, a new and improved version of David Mainse. Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! Most of all I say to Jesus, “Thank You!!!!!”

Yours for friendships throughout time and eternity,

David