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WHAT A FRIEND WE
HAVE IN JESUS
(Note: we had
permission to print the text during Lent but have had to remove
the text after Lent. Refer to your hymnal for the text.)
My first
connection to this hymn dates to an early Sunday school class. My
teacher encouraged me to pray and ask God’s forgiveness for my
sins. I was cautious about opening up that whole can of worms. A
6-year-old with a kid sister can muster quite a list of sins.
I had tried a few
times to confess sins to my father, and I had been sent to my room
to ponder the error of my ways. I decided to clam up about sins.
Dad came up with
a new approach. He told me he could look into my eyes and tell
whether I was being truthful. He tried those X-ray eyes on me, and
darned if he couldn’t make it work.
My Sunday school
teacher asked about my friends. Did I have special friends I could
sit down and talk with, friends I could trust? I told her about my
best friends, but Jesus wasn’t on the list. I loved Jesus, but I
had not thought of him as my friend. The teacher described a
picture of Jesus sitting at his father’s side while I was praying
… father and son, my friends in the heavenly kingdom.
We went through
all the verses of the hymn. Line by line, I began to understand. I
have a friend in Jesus, a friend who knows my every weakness and
loves me anyway. (That’s even better than my dad’s eye trick!) I
can share my sorrows with Jesus, my faithful friend; I can even
share my sins. With Jesus as my friend, I can take everything to
God in prayer.
Thank you, Lord,
for sharing your son, my friend Jesus, with us. And thank you for
inspiring all the little miracles that happen every week in Sunday
school classes around the world.
Tom Cronk
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