NIV Once-A-Day Bible for MenSample

A FAITHFUL FRIEND Many men enjoy watching a good Western. There’s nothing better than to see the good guy wearing the nice hat and riding the best-looking horse. The background music in Westerns is upbeat and memorable. Everyone in the town knows that times will get better once the good guy arrives. Life is simple — ​the bad guys are just as easy to spot as the good guys — ​but there are always some twists behind that next tree or over the next butte. Remember when you were a kid, yelling at the screen for the hero not to go around that next corner, into that train car, or through that pass? You know what happened: the hero got jumped and tied to a tree or dropped down an abandoned mine shaft. But many heroes were spared death, thanks to having a loyal friend or sidekick. Sometimes life plays out like an old Western. There’s a circumstance around the next corner from which it seems improbable that you could ever escape, let alone create a good outcome. The last thing you want is to face it alone, and you wish someone could see ahead and shout, “Don’t go there!” Men, remember we don’t have to go it alone! We always have Christ to look to in times of need, but we can also find another man to partner with in prayer. When you commit to praying with someone, to helping someone through rough patches, you in turn may be helped out of a deserted mine shaft. Thanks to your commitment to prayer, you may be the hero who helps save the day.  Lord, help me avoid trying to go it alone . . .