No Friend Like Him

(upbeat music) - Hey, and welcome back to Journey with Jesus. This is your host and author, Johnny Singh, and I appreciate you spending another day with some more of your time with me. Again, if you're a listener to the podcast in or the audio recording from whatever platform it might be, I appreciate that. And in today's reflection, maybe you can comment no friend like him. So I know who all might be listening. To this reflection, no friend like him. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no not one, no not one. Maybe those words take you back to wooden pew, or a song leader waving his hand in a steady rhythm, or a voice beside you that sang just a little louder than anyone else. Maybe you've never sung it. I hit their way. It is one of those lines that tends to stake. What I was about six or seven years old, I was hooked on music, and I still am. Rhythm caught me before I even understood it. I did not grow up in a family that read sheet music or played instruments, but I grew up in a house where music was always present. Calipso would play from my dad's old speakers. Calipso for those unfamiliar is a Caribbean genre rooted in storytelling, rhythm, and social commentary. It is upbeat, playful, and often humorous. Rage would echo through the house in Saturdays while my siblings handle chores. Outside the streets of my Caribbean town carried their own soundtrack. Music was everywhere. I love music, but this reflection is not really about music. It moreso has to do with a song my dad would sing to me at any and every chance he got, and the affection behind it. It goes something like this. Johnny my boy, Mama sent you to school to learn to read and write, Johnny my boy, Mama sent you to school to learn to spell dumpling. D-U-M-P-L-I-N is not the way it goes, and while the song would go on and on and on. No matter my mood, no matter how frustrated or tired I was, that song could pull a laugh out of me. Recently I asked him if he made it up. Turns out it is an actual song. A Calypso song. Yes, a whole song about spelling dumpling. But for me, it's not about the dumpling. It's about belonging. My name is Jonathan. And for as long as I can remember, my dad called me Johnny Boy. Eventually I dropped the boy for more serious sound and situations. He often told me how much he loved my name, especially because of another Jonathan in Scripture. Saul, son, David's friend, loyal, gentle, and selfless. My dad admired that friendship. He admired the way Jonathan loved David. What does any of this have to do with faith you might ask? Well, everything. There was a time when my dad and I were not friends. Growing up as a preacher's kid was not always easy. Expectations were high, mistakes felt heavy. There were seasons of tension, argument, and even silence. At one point we stopped talking altogether. The relationship was strained in ways that heard both of us. By God's grace, it did not stay that way. Today my dad relies on me in ways that give me purpose. We talk, we laugh, we serve, we have become friends. Not just father and son, actual friends. I know that every story ends that way. Restoration is not always mutual. When it happens, it feels like grace with skin on. And that is what brings me back to the him. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. On a day like today where relationships of all kinds are celebrated, it feels right to talk about the friend who never withdraws, never grows cold, never keeps score. Let me offer three reasons why. Number one, Jesus is the friend who moves toward us. Romans chapter five verse eight says, "But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were sinners Christ died for us." Notice the direction of that love. It moves toward us, not after we fix ourselves, not after we prove ourselves, while we were still sinners. And in John chapter 15 verse 13, Jesus says, "Great a love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends." He does not speak in theory, he speaks in certainty. He lays down his life. Human friendships sometimes fracture. Pride steps in, silence grows, distance becomes the normal. But Jesus steps toward the broken version of us. He does not wait at a distance for improvement. He enters the mess. That should stir something inside us. Gratitude, yes, but also surrender. Number two, Jesus is the friend who stays. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 24 says, "A man of too many friends comes to ruin. But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Many have experienced the first half of that verse. Plenty of acquaintances, few who stay. Hebrews chapter 13 verse five records the promise of God. I will never desert you nor will I ever abandon you. Never is a strong word. Jesus does not leave us on red. Send or call us to voicemail or ghost us after a first interaction. He does not withdraw when disappointed. He does not give up when progress is slow. When earthly relationships feel uncertain, he remains steady. That's steadiness invites trouble. It also calls for faithfulness and return. A friendship with Jesus is not casual. It's covenantal. Number three, Jesus is the friend who transforms. A good friend comforts. A great friend shapes. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 says, iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another. True friendship changes us. It refines us. Second Corinthians chapter five or 17 reminds us, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation. The old things passed away, behold the new things have come. Jesus does not just soothe us, he renews. He does not simply sit with us in our brokenness. He leads us out of it. That kind of friendship requires openness. It requires humility. It requires obedience, but it leads to life. When I think about my dad singing that silly song, I realize something. The reason it settles me is not because of the melody. It's because of the relationship behind it, the history, the restoration, the love that survived the strain. Multiply that by eternity and you begin to glimpse the friendship of Christ. There is not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no, not one. If distance has grown between you and him, take a step back, not in shame, but in honesty, speak to him, open the scriptures, return in prayer. Friendships grow where attention goes. And if you already walk with him, treasure that relationship, feed it, guard it, let it shape every other relationship in your life. Because long after the song's fade and the season's shift, this truth remains steady. There really is not a friend like him, no, not one. As I close, let me say this, if this space has encouraged you, if these words have helped you think more deeply about your walk with Jesus, then I thank you for being here. Preparing these pieces take time and intention. It's a labor love. My heart with this work has always been simple. Help people draw closer to Christ, help restore what may have been strained, and help strengthen what is already steady. If you believe in that mission and would like to support it in a practical way, I have a linked list that is by me a coffee. It's a simple way to help sustain the time, tools, and resources that goes into this. There's no pressure and also no expectation. But if you feel moved to give, thank you. If you're not in a place to do so, your prayers and your continued reading mean more than you know. Either way, let's stay close to the friend who never walks away and let us keep walking with him together.