As for this friend of mine...

As for this friend of mine, he betrayed me; he broke his promises. His words are smooth as cream, but in his heart is war. His words are as soothing as lotion, but underneath are daggers! Psalm 55: 20-21

I think of Jesus when I read these verses. I especially think of Judas. According to scripture, Judas was so close to Jesus that he sat beside him at the last supper. They dipped their food in the same bowl of sauce! Judas was in charge of the money – obviously he was highly trusted and responsible. Judas must have also had a caring heart because he protested when the woman broke the jar of perfume over Jesus. This was one of Jesus' closest friends.

Yet Judas betrayed Jesus to the religious leadership. Talk about your smooth words becoming words of war or being like lotion yet full of daggers! Judas broke his promises. Judas betrayed his best friend. I don't think we will ever know figure out why.

But we all can relate to the idea of someone we trusted – whether a friend, a co-worker or a person in office – betraying us. Whether we gave our trust to the wrong person, or they were overcome by greed or temporary insanity, we found ourselves deeply hurt. This kind of hurt is not something we can get over quickly. It will take a long time for us to trust again. And it certainly would take quite a bit of time to be able to forgive our former friend.

God, sometimes we are hurt most by those we trust and love. We depend on you to be the one constant in our lives who will never betray us and will always love us. Thank you, Jesus! Amen.

Copyright 2011 Amelia G. Sims