2023-07 Friend Request

FRIENDS In our current social media culture, there is a significant emphasis among some for the number of online friends on social medial platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc. One study notes that checking and scrolling through social media has become so excessive for a small percentage of users that it can be considered an addiction. Along with the extreme scrolling and posting is a desire by some for more, more, and more friends and followers.

The current limit of the number of friends that you can have on Facebook is 5,000 while the number of people who can follow your page is unlimited.

These are a few of some of the most followed celebrities on Facebook in 2023.

• Cristiano Ronaldo – a legendary football champion in England – 162 million followers
• Shakira – a cherished Colombian pop star who is one of the most loved female singers worldwide – 121 million followers
• Will Smith – the actor who played in some of the best American movies loved by millions worldwide – 114 million followers
• Rihanna – a popular rap star who is one of the world’s wealthiest singers has 103 million followers
• Eminem – While Shakira is the queen of pop music, Eminem is the king of hip-hop music with 95 million followers
• Justin Bieber – 92 million followers

Contrast those statistics with the Facebook pages of gospel singer CeCe Winans, Billy Graham ministries, and the YouVersion Bible App that have between 3 and 4 million each. It gives us an idea of where the world focuses, doesn’t it?

With hundreds or a few thousand social media friends, are they really friends, do they even know each other, love each other, or care for each other? Realistically, it isn’t possible to be true friends with a few thousand strangers.

The Urban Dictionary describes true friends like this (excerpted).

True Friends have an indescribable, unbreakable bond, even if they’re not there for you, they’re still there. A true friend will look at you at your worst time in life, and still call you beautiful and strong. Someone that no matter what you go through, will always tell you they love you, no matter how many times you fight, no matter what you put each other through, you forgive each other easily. A best friend may be around a few years, but a true friend is forever. Even if you haven’t seen each other for years, the friendship remains unbreakable.

True friends come to you when you’re at your lowest, even when you push them away, they still stay. They know what mood you’re in just by looking at your face expression, and they know just how to cheer you up when you’re sad. They know everything about you, even more than you know about yourself. They tell you when you do something stupid but support you through change. You share countless memories together with a true friend.

As wonderful as all the above qualities are, Jesus has those qualities and more. He is loyal, brave, humble, honest, compassionate, protective, encouraging, dependable, faithful, kind, loving, forgiving and completely sacrificial (just to name a few). Above, He suffered and died for you. In John’s gospel He said: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:12-15

If you haven’t already, consider accepting a friend request from Jesus. He loves you so much that He died for you. And unlike human friends and Facebook friends, He will never cancel you, instead you will find a friend who will never leave you or forsake you and He loves you unconditionally. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Additionally, Jesus wants you to follow Him. He is not limited by time, space, or technology. He has enough room in His heart for anyone who wants Him. John 1:12-13 reminds us, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

The heroics and talents of popular athletics and celebrities will fade or go out of style, but Jesus has something that none of them with their fame, fortune, and millions of followers can rival. In John 8:12, He tells us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

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