Best Friends

I heard this radio program last night about a street urchin who snuck into an old widows kitchen to steal some eggs. As he was leaving, he was startled by a light coming on and dashed out the door, only to fall in the darkened alley breaking the eggs and scraping his knees.
The old widow, seeing all of this, came to the door to help the little boy up and into a kitchen chair.
The boy sat terrified at being caught and quietly awaited his punishment. The old lady patiently cleaned the egg residue off of his hands and clothes and cleaned and dressed his wounded knees. When she was through, the boy looking perplexed, asked her why she had done this instead of beating him or calling the police. The woman replied that the eggs were hers and noone else's and that she had chosen to forgive him for stealing them.
The boy was amazed at the woman's kindness. He thanked her and began to leave. The old woman asked the boy where he was living and he told her that he had made up a nice shelter a few alleyways over. The woman said that she wanted him to stay the night in her spare bedroom. The boy, of course, refused but the woman kept insisting. She said it wouldn't be any bother and she would not disturb him because her bedroom was upstairs while his would be downstairs adjacent to the kitchen. The boy questioned why she would allow him to sleep next to the kitchen and back door knowing what he had just attempted.
The woman replied that friends must learn to have faith in each other and that he should decide whether their new found friendship was more valuable than a few eggs.

That story caused me to think about my best friend Jesus, and how He has chosen to forgive us our transgressions. He's cleaned us up and offered us shelter from the world. He doesn't see me as an urchin. He sees me as a joint heir. Praise God!

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24