Scorpion, my friend

I read this story from a friend’s Facebook wall:

 
“An old man saw a drowning scorpion and decided to save it. Each time the man tried to pick the scorpion up, the scorpion will sting the old man.  It didn’t stop the man from trying to help the scorpion. He continued to attempt to pick up the scorpion and the scorpion would do the same. A young boy who was observing told the old man to let the scorpion be since it would not stop to sting, but the old man replied the boy: ‘it is in the scorpion’s nature to sting and it’s in my nature to save it’. Then the man used a leaf to pick up the scorpion to safety.”

Most times we think our relationships are not working out, we may have misdiagnosed. Maybe we have been the scorpions or we have not tried enough to save the scorpion despite the stinging. Maybe we have been assuming wrongly, maybe we have not said the right words yet, maybe we still nurture the wound from a previous sting, maybe we have been not sticking around long enough. How far are you willing to go to ensure that it works, how strong are you willing to push?

From our today’s lesson, our imperfections do not have to spell the end of our relationship with the greatest Friend of all. Our friendship with Him can continue and it can grow stronger. When one friend fails another, it can be painful thing for both people. This is where most friendships come to an end.

No friendship is perfect. Earthly friends sometimes fail, but good friends do not discard one another because of imperfection. Neither does Jesus. He is the perfect example of a friend as described in Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times,…” (NIV). One whose love is loyal and constant, and who does not leave us when thing become unpleasant. His friendship assures us that He is more than a fair-weather friend. When hard times come, He will be with us and help us through them.

Friendship calls for the realisation of who our friends are. It is hard to enjoy close friendship without recognising who a person is. Discovering that a friend has been less than truthful with us about who he or she is can put a strain on the friendship. We expect friends to be honest with us, if not trusting a friend is difficult. This is also true in our friendship with Jesus. If we say He is our friend, we must understand who He is and allow this recognition to shape our response to Him. Only when we have this understanding can we really enjoy the close friendship He offers.

Peter and his friendship with Jesus show us that in spite of our imperfections, Christ invites us to still be friends with Him. (Matthew 14:24-33, 16:13-19 and John 21:4-19). As Peter did, we must first return to Jesus. Then we must do the thing we once failed to do – we must commit ourselves to following him faithfully at whatever cost.