Text: John 12:1-3
Memory verse:
”A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.“
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18‬:‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Salt was used in ancient times as an emblem of friendship and faithfulness. Among the Arabs, to eat a man’s salt and share in his hospitality is still regarded as a sign of friendship. So, to share one’s food and still act as an enemy is regarded as a deadly crime. David lamented when he observed this strange behaviour with his friend. “Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me” (Psa 41:9 NLT).
Aristotle said, “To be a friend to someone, you must eat a “sack of salt” together.”  This doesn’t mean literally eating a sack of salt to become friends, rather, it’s a phrase which describes the time spent together with a friend over many meals, eating the salt of the food in the process. Together, friends share times of sunshine and darkness, joy and sorrow, progress and setbacks, christening, and bereavement. With each pinch of salt, you add a story to the friendship and loyalty, love, and sacrifice grow. True Christian friendship doesn’t grow in a microwave environment, but in an earthen pot environment, that is, it requires time to grow.
Salt in the sacrifice and in the covenant is a demonstration of God’s friendship with man and His faithfulness to the relationship (Num 18:19; 2 Chro 13;5). Having been saved, Jesus calls us friends and not servants (John 15:15). As busy and spiritually occupied as Jesus was, He still found time to eat with His friends, especially Lazarus, according to our text today. So, when Jesus says, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another” (Mk9:50), He also means build Christian friendship and be faithful to it.
Rev John Fawcett’s hymn, “Blest be the tie that binds” expresses the “sack of salt” Christian relationship in these stanzas –
“Before our Father’s throne,
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.”
“We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows, the sympathizing tear.”
Friends, don’t allow the busyness of life and demands of the family to destroy the friendship tie. Don’t allow anything to destroy the “sack of salt” relationship. Rather, build it, so fulfill Jesus’ prayer that we will be One as He is One with His Father.

Prayer points
1. Father, help me to build a “sack of salt” true Christian friendship in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, please teach me to be faithful, just as I also desire true friendship, in Jesus’ name

Today’s declarations
1. I reach out and share a meal to build a “sack of salt” true Christian relationship.
2. I prove my loyalty to my friends when I share not only in their joy but in their pains.