Encouragement

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The Ultimate Buddy
© 2007

by

Stephen A. Peterson


Michelle MacDougal, 15, was an accomplished swimmer who had been taught water safety since she was a very young child. However, on a hot August summer afternoon, she nearly lost her life in the nearby North Canadian River in Shawnee, Oklahoma because she ignored one of the cardinal rules of water safety: never swim alone. Fortunately, a local cattle rancher heard her cries for help and saved her life.

Regardless of how accomplished a swimmer a person is that person needs to use the buddy system when swimming for no one knows when he or she might experience trouble and need help. This is especially true when one swims in unfamiliar waters or following a storm upstream. Storms upstream may be miles away and may be unseen or unknown to the would be swimmer until rushing waters make their presence felt causing death in many instances.

The buddy system has a spiritual parallel. Every Christian, regardless of how strong he or she knows or believes their relationship to Jesus Christ is, will, from time to time, get into water over their heads and will need a buddy to come to their rescue. Jesus promises His followers He can be that buddy, that friend, that special person to come to our rescue if we call on His Name when faced with the difficulties of everyday living. In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes a promise to His followers that is difficult to overlook and should encourage every believer to take heart, “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you may ask for what you will, and it will be done to you.”

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