{"id":5273,"date":"2022-01-30T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=5273"},"modified":"2022-01-30T07:49:26","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T12:49:26","slug":"friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2022\/01\/30\/friend\/","title":{"rendered":"FRIEND"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daily Reading:<\/strong> Exodus 10:1-12:13 ESV<\/a>, Matthew 20:1-28 ESV<\/a>, Psalm 25:1-15 ESV<\/a>, Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Verse:<\/strong> \u201cBut he replied to one of them, \u2018Friend<\/em>, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?\u201d (Matthew 20:13 ESV<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HETAIROS (2063):  <\/strong>\u201cA companion, comrade,\u201d is translated fellows (Mt. 11:16). The word is used only by Matthew and is translated as \u201cfriend.\u201d[I]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends work together.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew uses a word no other author in the Bible does; he describes the laborers as \u201cfriends.\u201d  Needing workers for his vineyards, the farmer pays the helpers, one denarius, the going rate for day laborer\u2019s efforts.  As time proceeds, the master recruits more help, paying them all the same wage, whether they worked 8 hours or 1 hour.  Tired and hot from toiling in the sun for their employer, grumbling erupts as everyone receives equal pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFriend (hetairos), I am doing you no wrong.\u201d Says the master to his workers.  Each person working a full day agreed to set wages, while those recruited later didn\u2019t.  Instead, when the farmer said, \u201cWhatever is right, I will give you,\u201d they trusted him and went on about their business (Matthew 20:5 ESV<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God considers us companions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew\u2019s use of \u201cHetairos\u201d to describe the laborers means the master considered them companions and comrades.  Everyone works towards the same goal, harvesting the vineyard.  Even though the master wasn\u2019t in the fields, he recruited more help to accomplish the task faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people, like myself, met Jesus early in life.  Others don\u2019t enter a relationship with God\u2019s Son until taking their last breath.  Length of service doesn\u2019t determine the reward. Aligning our lives with God\u2019s mission, whether young or old, means we reap the same benefit, eternal life.  The longer we serve the Lord, God willing, the more people who enjoy the benefits of heaven with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t become bitter because others haven\u2019t put in the same effort as you.  Rejoice that they joined the mission, planting seeds in the fields where God placed them.  When Christ calls us home, you won\u2019t care they joined the party late.  You\u2019ll rejoice they came at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working for Christ means becoming His comrade.  Companions for life, our mission never ends.  Love God, love others until the day your heavenly Father calls you home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[i]<\/a> Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible<\/em>. (p 104) Thomas Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 minute read. Daily Reading: Exodus 10:1-12:13 ESV, Matthew 20:1-28 ESV, Psalm 25:1-15 ESV, Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV Daily Verse: \u201cBut he replied to one of them, \u2018Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?\u201d (Matthew 20:13 ESV) HETAIROS (2063):  \u201cA companion, comrade,\u201d is translated fellows (Mt. 11:16). The… Continue reading FRIEND<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5273"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5355,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions\/5355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}