Liam the Lizard (aka Gecko)
Proverbs 18:24 ESV
A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Liam the Lizard (actually a gecko) came to live at our house at the request of my son. I was impressed by the tiny creature’s abilities, and the incredible amount of crickets he could consume! You would never know exactly where you would find Liam since a gecko has specialized toe pads that allow him to scale smooth and vertical surfaces even upside down. Seriously, a gecko could actually stick to Teflon thanks to approximately 6-7 million tiny setae hairs that work together to form so much force that Liam could have supported the weight of my son! Sometimes geckos are referred to as “having sticky fingers” because of these micro-hairy toes.
It’s funny that Liam’s sticky reputation reminds me of Proverbs 18:24, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Liam was impressive with his strength to support a human, but the strength of Jesus supports us all. In John 15:14, Jesus tells us, “You are my friends.” There is no better, closer, or truer friend than Jesus. He doesn’t have sticky fingers; He has a sticky heart.
I bet we can all think of a friend that lives too far away from us. We are lucky to have the phone, email, facetime to stay connected. By using these technologies, we are still able to share life with them while we eagerly wait for the next chance to be together in person. It’s really no different with Jesus except since He is closer to us than anyone, we don’t need devices to share with Him while we eagerly wait for His return! 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray constantly.” When Paul wrote that, he didn’t mean we were to give up all earthly activities to stay on our knees praying 24/7, but that we stay in constant communication with our literal BFF. After all, He never has to hang up because He is always with us.
