Mud Sitting

Mud Sitting

Text: Proverbs 18:24

Date: February 18, 2024, BFBC Friend Sunday at 11 am

A little Humor: Just Have to Outrun You

Two friends were out hunting in the northern U.S. Suddenly one yelled and the other looked up to see a grizzly charging them. The first started to frantically put on his running shoes, when his friend anxiously asked, "What are you doing? Don't you know you can't outrun a grizzly bear?"

"I don't have to outrun a grizzly. I just have to outrun you!"

A little Humor: Nobody Likes Me

Once a pastor said to his wife; 'Nobody likes me.' She replied, 'Honey, don't say that--everybody hasn't met you yet.'

Prayer

INTRODUCTION:

Illustration: Mud Sitting

A farmer was out plowing his field one spring morning. The spring thaw had just occurred and there were many muddy places in the field. While driving through one particularly wet place, his tractor became stuck in the mud. The harder he tried, the deeper he became stuck. Finally, he walked over to one of his neighbors to ask for help. The neighbor came over and looked at the situation. He shook his head, and then said, "It doesn't look good, but I tell you what. I'll give it a try pulling you out. But if we don't get it out, I'll just sit in the mud with ya!"

Have you tried "mud-sitting" with a friend? It may be the best thing you can do!

I read this little story, and it got me thinking about Friendship.

What is Friendship? What does it mean to have, or to be a good friend?

I want to ask you a question, “When was the last time you sat in the mud with anyone?”

It takes a real friend to do something like that!

Illustration: Would you do that? A Pastor friend of mine washed Bob’s feet, and clipped his toenails, although his body odor was unbearable.

Definition: A friend is someone who comes in when the world walks out!

Illustration: I Just Cried With Her

A little girl came home and told her mom that her best friend's grandma had died over the weekend. Her mom said, "That's so sad." The little girl said, "Yes it was Mommy. She just sat in her chair and cried and cried."

"What did you do, her mom asked.

Her daughter replied, “I just went back and cried with her.”

TO HAVE A FRIEND AND TO BE A FRIEND, NOW THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Proverbs 18:24, A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

HOW CAN WE HAVE A FRIEND? Proverbs 18:24a, A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:

Statistics: According to Dunbar, a professor of psychology at Oxford University who developed a theory about friendships, a person, on average, may have about 500 acquaintances, 150 meaningful contacts, 50 friends, and 15 good friends. But the tightest circle of friends a person usually has is around five people or less – maybe your direct family or a few close friends.

When was the last time you did a little Mud-Sitting?

The Bible teaches us several things about friends and friendship.

• Let’s look into the Word, as we take a look into our hearts.

• Let’s see not only what the Bible says about friendship, but how we rate as a “Friend!”

Moses: Exodus 33:11a, we read of the friendship between Moses and God.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend... “

• Most everyone is aware of who Moses was and what he accomplished in his life.

• Moses was not only labeled as “The meekest man on the face of the earth,” but we also read that “he spake face to face with God, as a man speaketh with his friend.

God spoke to Moses “face to face.”

God spoke to Moses directly, not through angels, or prophets. He spoke, “soul-to-soul.” Intimately, personally.

• Definition: “A friend is someone you can think out loud in the presence of.”

Challenge: Are you a friend like that? Do you have a friend like that?

God spoke to Moses as one would speak to his friend!

• This would call upon one to be individual and personal.

• Moses had “close communion” with God!

• It began as Moses answered the ‘Call of God.” To the mountain, and through the burning bush.

God and Moses did some “Mud Sitting!”

Abraham: Not just Moses, but Abraham was a Friend of God.

Note what God’s Word tells us…

Isaiah 41:8, But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

2 Chronicles 20:7, Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?