1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, 2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.   3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him.   5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.  (Matthew 26:1-5 KJV)

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?  And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.   16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26:14-16 KJV)

 

Most of the time it is difficult to tell friend from foe.  Both can be sheep in wolf’s clothing.  There are many examples in the Bible of people being betrayed by close friends.  Even blood relatives will turn on their kin.  Given enough of anything (money, food, drugs, material things, etc.), a warm heart and a friendly smile becomes an ice cold heart and a frown.  It doesn’t take much for this to happen because people are inherently greedy.

Even people that have everything easily fall into this abyss and will stab the knife even deeper for just a little more of what they don’t really need.  But, because it is there, it is wanted more than ever.  This make it very hard to trust anyone or to befriend a person because they may turn on you for no good reason.

How many friends do you have that will drop everything, sacrifice their well being just by you asking?  Can one be named without much thought?  On the battlefield they are called Medal of Honor recipients.  Except on the battlefield, I am believing that there is no honor, no true friendship and, in the same context, no love.

 

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.   17 For God sent not his Son  into the world to condemn the world;  but that the world through him might be saved.   18 He that believeth on him is not condemned:  but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only  Begotten Son of God.   19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.   20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.   21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:16-21 KJV)

This is telling me that only God have this love because he gave up His Son because of love.  What have you given up because of  strong, unadulterated love?  If you have, how hard did you have to think about it before you had the answer?  It should not be hard.  Remember, love thy neighbor as you yourself.  By today’s standards, keep a close eye on your neighbor before harm come your way.  It’s a shame it have to be that way today.  The devil’s domain is full and is becoming overfilled.

So, calling everyone a friend is setting yourself up for a big letdown. Be watchful, keep your ears open and be careful.  It’ll come as a thief in the night.  Love thy neighbor but keep an eye on him.  And, one more thing, is there a motive for that person to be your friend or you their friend?