Colton was fed up. He had been babysitting his younger brother while his mother went shopping, and the past two hours had really dragged by. All he could think about was riding his bike. Now that his mom was back, he could finally leave. He dashed to the phone. “Hi, Hunter! What are you doing? Let’s go ride our bikes!”
“Ride bikes?” asked Hunter. “It’s so hot! I’m going swimming.”
“But Hunter, it’s no fun to go riding alone!”
“I know, but all I’ve thought about for the last hour is going to the park for a swim,” said Hunter.
“Well, all I could think about for the past two hours was riding on the new bike trail!”
“Sorry, but I want to practice my diving. Besides, you know how hot it is going to get today,” said Hunter as he started to hang up.
“Okay,” muttered Colton, as he put down the receiver.
“I guess I’ll have to ride my bike alone,” he said to himself. “That sure won’t be as much fun. I really wish Hunter would come with me.”
Colton didn’t know it, but at that moment Hunter was having second thoughts. He was sitting on the floor by the phone when his mother came in.
“Why are you inside on such a nice day? Why don’t you go outside and do something with Colton?” she asked.
“All Colton ever wants to do is ride his bike. And anyway, I want to go swimming right now.”
“Well, Hunter,” said his mother, “if you want to stay good friends with Colton, you can’t always have your own way. You have to take turns. You can’t do only what you want to do or no one will want to be your friend.”
Hunter considered that for a moment, then slowly got to his feet. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Mom, I shouldn’t have been so stubborn about having my own way. Colton is my friend and I want to keep it that way!” He headed for the door, “I guess I’ll go tell Colton that I’ll go riding with Him.”
Hunter jumped on his bike and started down the street toward Colton’s house. To his surprise, riding toward him was Colton. “Hi, I want to talk to you!” they both called out at the same time.
“I guess we both must have the same thing on our minds. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I was so stubborn,” said Colton. “It wouldn’t have been much fun to go bike riding by myself.”
“I’m sorry too,” said Hunter. “It wouldn’t have been much fun to go swimming alone either. Why don’t we ride on the bike trails now. Then, when it gets too hot for riding, we can go to the park and swim. What do you say?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Colton. “Let’s go!”
They rode off together. They had both learned that there is more to a friendship than just having a friend. It is being a friend too!
There is a story in the Bible about two good friends. Their names were Jonathan and David. Jonathan’s father, Saul, was the King of Israel. Jonathan grew up with wealth and power all around him. David was just a shepherd boy who lived a very simple life. Their backgrounds were so different you might wonder how they ever became friends. One day Saul called for David to come and play the harp for him. Through this, Jonathan and David became very good friends. The Bible says that the soul of Jonathan was “knit” with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved David as his own soul. He gave David his robe, his sword, and his bow. He loved David and would have done anything for him. David loved Jonathan too.
Many times their friendship was tested, but they always stayed friends. Even when trouble came and David’s life was threatened, they stuck together, like good friends do, and helped each other.
If you have a good friend, you talk to him every chance you get. You let him know that you like him a lot, and want him to stay your friend. The more you talk to someone, the better you get to know him. What happens if you stop talking to him and never call him? If you wait too long he might think you don’t like him anymore.
The best way to keep our friends is to treat them the way we would want them to treat us. We show our love and caring for them by being considerate and thoughtful of their wishes. We want them to be happy, and for things to go well for them.
It isn’t hard to treat people this way if we have Jesus in our hearts. When He comes in, He helps us to love everyone. And when you love someone, it isn’t hard to treat him well. That is what you want to do!
Jesus wants you to have friends. He wants you to be a friend. With Him as your best Friend, you can be the right kind of friend to others.
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