Transcription
We take our test from Proverbs chapter 27, verse 10. Proverbs 27, verse 10, Easy to Read Version, it says, "Don't forget your own friends or your father's friends. If you have a problem, go to your neighbor for help. It is better to ask a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away."
If you study scriptures, you would observe that there are certain people that the Lord continues to make reference to, especially in your time of need. Men and women that God expects to give a helping hand to you in times of challenges, in times of need. Who are these people? First, your family. Your family, this includes the immediate family, and then your relatives extending between, beyond the immediate family. Now, and then outside this cycle, your friends, and then your neighbors. Your neighbors, this last group of people, a lot of people today are ignoring them, especially in the last, maybe four decades. And as time is passing, more and more people are beginning to live a life where their locational neighbors are not giving any attention. And it's a big risk and a big mistake, even by the plan and purpose of God for the lives of every one of us.
In Proverbs 17, verse 11, Proverbs 17:17, Living Bible, it says, "A true friend is always loyal, and the brother is born to help in time of need." So you see this scripture emphasizing some members of these very special group of destiny partners and destiny helpers. A true friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. So you are seeing from the scripture part of the responsibilities we have towards certain people who are members of our family, our relatives, and then those who are our friends.
But beyond this group, family, relatives, and friends, there are some other people that are part of your destiny partners and destiny helpers. There are certain problems that will come, and most times it will come suddenly. Some of these problems will happen at midnight, at midnight. And in such circumstances, if you are to rely on going to a relative, a family member, or a friend that is far away, by the time you are back, or by the time they arrive, a situation that could have been saved would have turned to tragedy. I pray you will never suffer any kind of tragedy. Let the Lord hear your amen.
But the Lord is giving every one of us here wisdom. Because today, in the present time, we are, you can see people today who do not know the names of your neighbors. You don't even know the name of the family that is living next door to your house. Some of you live in a block of apartments, and you don't even know the neighbors by your left, by your right. Some of you, you describe your neighbor as, "Oh, that man that has a black car." After two, three years, you still do not know the name of your neighbor. And the Bible is saying here, it says, "If you have a problem, there are certain problems when they happen, the person that God will expect to help you, bail you out, is your neighbor." Not your father, not your mother, not your son, not your brother, not your sister, not that relative, and not even your friends, as close as they are to you. They can't help you with certain problems, especially times of emergency. When a house is burning, burning, the first line of help is your next-door neighbor, not your close friend that is far away, not your family members that are far away. And it is not in the moment of an emergency you would now knock for the first time on the door of a neighbor you have always ignored. I pray it will never be late for you.
And as we receive the word, may God also put in our hearts a sense of urgency to apply the words we hear from Him. He said, "If you have a problem, go to your neighbor for help." And on the other side of this instruction, what are we learning from this? God expects you to be accessible to your neighbors. Be approachable to your neighbors. It is for your own good. It's a law. It's one of those laws we must comply with in our journey of life. Life, there will be a moment of emergency when someone is right there in the office, you are in your business location, and there is a distress call. Something is happening in your house, something is happening in your apartment. And we have seen many times when such things happen, to the glory of God, the situation was quickly addressed. Potential fire outbreak, electrocution, some child was being exposed to a life-threatening danger, but quickly the next-door neighbor intervened. Sometimes your neighbors will be the one to break through the window, break the door, and quickly do the needful. Because if they are to wait for you to come back from your workplace, the damage would have been completely done. Neighbors, your locational neighbors have a role to play in your journey of life. He said, "If you have a problem, go to your neighbor for help." It is better to ask a neighbor. You can't be wiser than the wisdom of God. You will need them. You will need them, including neighbors that are not of your faith. You can choose your friends, but most times you can't choose your neighbors. You have to manage your relationship with your neighbors. It is better to go ask a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.
God's Word Translation, Proverbs 27:10, he said, "Do not abandon your father or your friend or your father's friend. Do not go to a relative's home when you are in trouble. A neighbor living nearby, a neighbor living nearby is better than a relative far away, than a relative far away." There are certain emergencies you need to act fast, and the quickest help you will get can only come from your next-door neighbor, especially at a particular time of the day, time of the night. In ideal situations, you can rely on your brother, on your friend, but in times of emergency, God expects you to call on your next-door neighbor. And the Lord is saying, that is not the moment you will build a relationship with that neighbor. Become friendly with your neighbor ahead of time. Be approachable, also accessible to your neighbor. Your neighbor needs you, and you would someday need your neighbor. You will someday need your neighbor. No matter how highly positioned you are, you will someday need your neighbor. There will be something that neighbor can do that will save the day for you and your family. A neighbor is someone who lives very close to you, who lives very close to you.
Can I tell you this? It's one of those things that sometimes is influenced by God. Some neighbors, not all, some neighbors are divinely positioned. Some neighbors are divinely positioned. And there are some of them, God would not need to make them your neighbor for life, just for two years, just for three years, just for your season in school, your season on campus, your time in a particular organization. The neighbor is someone who lives very close to you, someone who lives near you. In times of sudden emergencies, your first line of help, your first line of help are your physical neighbors, your physical neighbors.
We look at just two instances from the scriptures. The first one was a widow who had a debt problem in 2 Kings 4:1-7. For your neighbor to give you immediate attention in your hour of urgent need, there has to be a prior relationship. That is how it works. In Second Kings 4:3, the message, he says, "Yes, what to do," said Elisha, "Go up down the street and borrow jars and bows from all your neighbors, and not just a few, all you can get." In the New King James Version, it says, "Then he said, 'Go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors, empty vessels. Do not gather just a few.'" And finally, in The Voice, it says, "Borrow as many and large empty containers as you can. Ask neighbors for anything they can give you, because a miracle is about to happen, a breakthrough is about to happen." It says, "What? Ask neighbors for anything, any kind of container they can give to you. Be sure to collect a lot from them." A neighbor that gives you two, a neighbor that gives you three has done enough for you. It is only a neighbor that you have a good relationship with that you can now tell to please give me all that you have, all that you have, and you want it now. It is only a neighbor you have a good relationship with. So please take note of these groups of people.
There are some strategic relationships you may need. Someday you will need your relatives. You will need your relatives. You need your personal friends. Someday you would also need your family friends, friends of your family, friends of members of your family, friends of members of your family. You will need someday your old schoolmates. You will need, you will need, you will need them someday. And for some, sometimes that need will be a critical need. You will need members of your local church. Sometimes you will need friends in other churches. You will need friends in all the churches. You will also need someday your residential neighbors, both in the past and in the present time. You will also need your neighbors where your office or business is located, where your office is located, your business is located. Sometimes you will need past and present colleagues at work, past and present colleagues at work. You may need them someday. Sometimes you may need some professional colleagues. So these are different sets of people, but today the emphasis is on your neighbors.
Now, take note of two key things from this widow's experience. One, the magnitude, the volume of this woman's miracle was tied to as many neighbors that she had a good relationship with in her neighborhood, in her neighborhood. I ask you today, how many of your neighbors do you even have a relationship with? Number two, what is the condition of your relationship with them? What is the condition of your relationship with them? Do you know that you are supposed to rejoice with your neighbors according to scriptures? At not all times, at certain times. When Zacharias and Elizabeth were blessed with a baby boy, boy, after many years of waiting, in Luke 1:58, it says, "And her neighbors and family, her neighbors and family rejoiced with her." You are supposed to join your neighbor for Thanksgiving, not all the time, when something very remarkable happens for that neighbor. According to the ways of God, there is also a time where you will need to mourn with your neighbor. It will be very insensitive of you not to identify with that neighbor at that particular time.
Another example was, uh, Joseph and Pharaoh's chief cupbearer in Genesis chapter 40:1-5. This will also show you another dimension, another dimension of having a good relationship with people that God will position around you. So sometimes it's not about someone living next door. No, your roommate, your roommate, your flatmate could be the person in question. And be careful about the messages you hear, especially messages that are not common, such as this. And the right time for you to hear this message is now, not when it will be late by December. The right time for you to hear this message is now, so you can quickly adjust, correct things, and align with the wisdom of the message. You read about how the two servants of Pharaoh offended him, and he put them in jail. And in verse three, you say, and you will see that he put them, they were put in the same prison as Joseph. Like I told you, sometimes, not all the time, sometimes some of these people that will be beside you, next door to you, in the same room with you, in the same house with you, would be divinely arranged, as it happened with Joseph. Not all the time. And so eventually, they had, they both had a dream. And Joseph saw them looking so disturbed, and he asked them, "What's the problem?" They explained to him, they had dreams, but they cannot interpret. So he told them, because he had a gift in interpretation of dreams, he told them, "What's a dream? Let's see, maybe God will give grace to interpret." And they told him, and there, Joseph interpreted the dream. That is part of what will play out between you and some of your neighbors in your journey of life. God, God is going to use some of them to help you, help your children. And God is also going to use you to help them. Have this in mind. Sometimes it's your roommate, sometimes it's your housemate, sometimes it could be someone that lived in that same address with you. Life, you'll be shocked at who God is going to use to speak on your behalf, to rescue you at a critical time of life.
One other thing you learn from that. Please, I encourage us, let us not always put money, money, money, money first in every dealing of life. Let's not always look up and down and assess people before we can do good to them. Let's not live a life based on calculations and schemings all the time. Joseph never asked them to pay him. They were, remember, they were working directly with Pharaoh. They were working directly with Pharaoh. So there were certainly two, these were two men who had access to some resource, to some money. They were working directly with the king, but they didn't put money first. Joseph didn't put money first. There are some people, the moment they just see someone, they size him up. The first thing that comes to their mind is how they can take money from that man, how they can take money from that church, from that platform, from that organization. Learn to sometimes use what God has freely given you freely also to help certain people. You never can tell, you never can tell.
And then, number two, you will observe that they didn't ask Joseph because they didn't know what Joseph was capable of doing. So don't always wait for people to ask you for help. There are things that you know you can do. Sometimes you may have someone in your cycle of influence that immediately you know could help this person, but that person doesn't know that you know that person. So sometimes you would be the one that would know that there is a solution to this person's need or problem without them asking you. Volunteer and render that help. They may not be able to pay you back, but someday in the future, you never can tell how God will pay you back. And we saw how Providence eventually worked out wonderfully for Joseph. The payback was awesome, the payback was great.
So, in closing it up, there are vital things that are expected between good neighbors. Certain things are expected from you towards your neighbors, and they include: One, you must be approachable. You must be approachable, at least to your neighbor. Be approachable. Be accessible. Be well-disposed. Anytime you physically see the face of your neighbor, smile. By your body language, make it clear that you are well-disposed to them. Be courteous with your neighbors. Be polite with them. Also, be friendly. Be friendly with your neighbors. When you see your neighbor's children, be friendly with them. It is as important as your relationship with the neighbor himself or herself. Also, there must be mutual respect between you and your neighbors. Sometimes your neighbor could be one young unemployed man, and you are far, far much older and perhaps established, but there should be mutual respect. Your neighbor could be a wide distance away from you in terms of status in life. However, because he's your neighbor, she's your neighbor, that family are your neighbors, there should be some mutual. Don't look down on your neighbors. Don't look down on your neighbors. Because if you persist in that attitude, they will pick it at a point, they will not it at a time, and out of self-respect, they will also give you some space. But the day will come when you will need them, and shame will not allow you to reach out to them. I pray that that will never be your own experience. So there should be mutual respect. So be respectful towards your neighbors.
And then also, be peaceful. Be peaceful with your neighbors. There should be goodwill towards your neighbor. And one of the things you must happen regularly is that you people must always engage in warm greetings. Every time it is required of you towards your neighbors. There should be cooperation. And sometimes you will have to collaborate on certain things to achieve certain things. As roommates, as housemates, or people living in the same house, you could be both be landlords in the same street, in the same estate. Sometimes you need to do some things collectively. You will need to align with them and join them to get that thing done. It could be security-related, it could be for some purpose. So you need to be helpful to your neighbors, support your neighbor, assist your neighbor, be hospitable to your neighbor. And sometimes, as it used to be, because things are changing fast, things are changing fast, and one of the things changing with time is the way neighbors now relate, is the way neighbors now relate. Things are changing fast. Sometimes you are doing something, or you, you know you have so much in the house, or something is happening, a feast or whatever, you could share, you could share with your neighbor. It's part of the spirit. Be kind to them. Be kind to them.
And then, please take note of this. You have to be sociable. Even if you are not, not someone giving to parties, if your neighbor, after years of waiting, are having a small reception at home to celebrate the birth of a child after 10 years in marriage, even if you are not given to parties, you should join them, even if for one hour, for two hours, and then you can retreat back to your house. Then, on the other side, you should be tolerant. Be tolerant with your neighbors. Be tolerant with your neighbors. Some, because you are living next to each other, something will happen someday that is not right. The moment you realize it's your neighbor, you have to overlook it because some of these things will not be intentional. And then sometimes the children of your neighbor could spoil something that belongs to you. You don't have to react the way you would have reacted normally. Be patient with your neighbor. Forgive when the need arises. Show empathy towards them. Show understanding with them. Be appreciative. Be appreciative of every good gesture extended to you by your neighbors.
And lastly, in Proverbs 25:17, there is a word of advice that we should also be mindful of. Proverbs 25:17, God's Word Translation, it says, "Do not set foot in your neighbor's house too often, otherwise he will see too much of you and hate you." Contemporary English Version says, "Don't visit friends too often, or they will get tired of it and start hating you." So you have to balance this also. Don't visit your neighbors too often. And when you also visit, be sensitive to time. There is also a proper time to exit. There's a proper time to leave them. And we shouldn't just bump on our neighbors all the time. Sometimes neighbors may also need to just be by themselves. We need to be sensitive to that.