There was a time when I dreamed how wonderful it would be if a true friend appeared in my life who would... Beyond that, I could not even imagine what a true friend should be like. Life in a worldly environment had left its mark upon my thinking, creating certain stereotypes about friends and friendship. I already had friends who remain close to me to this day, but I longed to gain some new, godly, genuine friend who would miraculously sense all my spiritual and physical needs and meet them. I was certain that in Eternity everyone would be very friendly and that all my dreams would certainly be fulfilled there. But while I live in this world, I also desire to taste a small piece of Heaven here and receive at least a little of what will exist there in abundance.
God answered my longing and, in the person of Jesus, became this Friend Himself. I understood how wonderful, tactful, and friendly He is and how good and peaceful it is to be with Him. Yet even after finding peace with God and abundant fellowship with Jesus, I did not cease dreaming about some spiritual friend, although I did not even understand what I needed.
Brothers and sisters who were kind and friendly to me surrounded me. Visiting one another became a regular part of life, yet something was still missing from my heart.
At that time, I did not even understand what I wanted or whether I desired something that could truly exist. Only now, knowing the power and influence of love, can I describe what was happening to me in the past and why no one could help me with it.
My longing for love found expression in sincere prayers to Heaven, in which I boldly asked for this great gift. How I wished then—and still wish now—to meet someone who would teach me this love, reveal the principles of friendliness and happiness, and instruct me in the rules of Heavenly communication.
The Lord helped me understand clearly that if you want many friends, you must first become friendly yourself. If you desire to enjoy what is good, first go and sow this seed in good soil.
New ideas and possibilities did not arise in a single day. Something great that I had not known before was not revealed all at once. Step by step, the Lord led me from experience to experience, from victory to victory, and from mistakes to success. Now, as I speak these simple words to you, they rest upon many years of experiencing God’s blessings and trials. I have lived in practice what is being presented to you, my friends, in such a beautiful form.
A longing and thirst for a true friend is present within every heart. If you have such a friend, value and protect him. He is God’s gift to a human being in this restless world.
If you have not yet been so fortunate and your dream has not yet come true, do not despair. Everything is in your hands. Begin taking the first step in this direction and become a true friend yourself, living and acting as an eternal friend.
It is worth noting that if you plan to form a friendship, prepare yourself for an eternal relationship. Otherwise, it is not friendship but a superficial acquaintance with a pleasant person.
From childhood, we were taught that a friend is someone who will never betray you, who will lay down his life for you, and who will share with you whatever is needed. Are you ready to become such a person? Life shows that many barriers exist within relationships, both in me and in those with whom I would like to be friends. But love teaches us how to tear down all these barriers properly and give one another something unconditional, pure, and eternal.
My heart is ready to receive friends. As I see this readiness, I understand that this heart no longer resembles a stone with fixed limits upon its behavior that sees nothing beyond the end of its nose. God placed His heart within me, calling it a heart of flesh, and wrote His laws upon it, making them part of my way of thinking. This did not happen in a single night. But throughout my friendship with Christ, everything moved toward my becoming this kind of person.
As I open my heart to a friend, I understand that his soul has a beginning and an entrance, but there are no limits to knowing it. I did not invent this; I saw it. It simply cannot be otherwise.
If we are destined to live only this earthly life and limit ourselves to friendship with earthly friends, there is no need to possess an eternal heart. My death or my friend’s death would end the journey into my inner world, and I would receive only the minimum needed to adorn my earthly life. But I am prepared for endless existence with eternal relationships, unconditional friendship, and unceasing discoveries.
I also understand that the new heart of every friend of mine is as eternal and infinite as the Lord Himself. When He created us, He placed limitless potential within our nature that will eternally delight our friends with new discoveries and blessings. It will be impossible to die of boredom while communicating with a friend who invites you into a new depth of his heart and allows you to discover something great and hidden within it that you do not know—and of which even he himself is unaware.
I believe fascinating discoveries await us in this realm. And if we consider that many of our future friends with infinite hearts will enter Heaven, each gladly opened for our exploration, we will have plenty to occupy us during the first part of Eternity. As we discover the treasures of our friends’ souls, we will enrich them and all of us with those treasures, dedicating the greater portion of these valuables to God.
But the most fascinating exploration will be the journey into the Eternal Heart of God. Within Him, we will discover many radiant qualities of God’s soul that we can boldly reflect upon our friends, amazing them with new discoveries about themselves.
We can already begin enjoying the special benefits of such relationships. We can begin today.
God does not forbid us to love one another. He earnestly commands us to treat those around us in precisely this way. Love works miracles in every relationship, especially in the relationships of friends who love one another. When we enter the path of continual discovery and exploration, dealing with a friend’s infinite heart and opening our own infinite heart to him, we can continue the relationship endlessly. Do you agree?
If you are waiting for Eternity before entering an eternal relationship with a friend, I believe you risk losing something very important. Eternal Life has already begun for those who believe in Jesus, accept His will, and live in obedience to His law. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Being a friend is so fascinating! And being an eternal friend is the inevitability awaiting all God’s children in the approaching Eternity.
The fallen angels were offered this opportunity, but for some reason they chose death. Now they envy us, knowing what infinite expanses are opening before us. They have lost them forever. Therefore, the task of the fallen angels is to make us disappointed in love and faith and deprive us of every hope of salvation. Many obstacles and trials await us upon this earth, and our friendship will also come under attack. But let our commitment to friendship also be eternal, so that nothing can shake or distract us.
God, Who has begun this good work within us, will perform it until the Coming of Christ. Then throughout Eternity, He will continue leading us in this knowledge of one another and of Himself. How fascinating all this is!
Bible Verses for Reflection
Philippians 1:6; Genesis 1:27; Ezekiel 11:19–21; 36:23–31; Hebrews 10:16–17; Galatians 6:7–10; Proverbs 17:17; 18:24; Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:36; 4:36–37; 6:40; 10:27–28; 13:34–35; 17:3; 1 John 5:10–14; Hosea 2:19–20; Ephesians 1:16–19; 1 Peter 1:22; 5:10; Romans 2:6–7.