A mutual friend

I have called you friends.  — John 15:15

Imagine being a visitor in a foreign land, showing up unannounced at a gathering of people you have never met and who have never heard of you — and then being allowed to address that group just a few minutes later. That can happen only if something breaks down barriers — something like mutual friends.

It happened when I took a missions team to a church service in Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Before we left the US, my friend Dorant Brown, a Jamaican pastor, recommended a church to attend. So when we arrived at the church, and I mentioned Pastor Brown, we were not only welcomed, but I was also asked to speak briefly and our team was asked to sing.

While sharing Dorant’s name was vital. I really don’t think it was that mutual friend who got us such a warm welcome. I think it was our shared Friend and Savior Jesus who opened our Jamaican friends’ hearts to our visit.

Have you experienced a connection with someone you just met when you tell them you too know Jesus? He’s a friend who laid down His life for us (John 15:13), and He makes brothers and sisters of all who believe (1 Peter 2:17).

Jesus. Our Savior. Our mutual Friend. He joins hearts around the world under the banner of His love. — Dave Branon

Join hands, then, brothers of the faith,

Whate’er your race may be;

Who serves my Father as a son

Is surely kin to me. — Oxenham

READ: John 15:9-17

Those who are drawn to Christ are drawn to each other.

The Bible in one year:

• Exodus 1-3

• Matthew 14:1-21