Discussing the parable of the unjust judge, Milton Cole commented on the widow who could not get the judge to answer her plea. He said that “she had no friend to speak for her.” It was only through her persistent “troubling” of the judge that he relented and vindicated her. The judge “feared not God, neither regarded man” (Luke 18:2), so she was left completely to her own devices to get him to act. The widow was persistent, speaking for herself when no one would speak for her.

It is so important that we speak for those who have no one else to speak for them. The unborn are a good example of this. If the mother of the unborn child decides the child is inconvenient or a burden, she may end the child’s life. (We should emphasize that it is a situation of a “mother and child,” not a “woman and a fetus.”) Surely we will speak out for these most helpless and innocent victims of our culture of convenience. We understand that God hates “hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:17).

Another Who needs a friend to speak in His behalf is our Savior. He said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:13-14). If we are the friends of Jesus, we will want to speak for Him. Many only know the name of Jesus as a curse word. Others pay lip service to Him, but do not obey Him.

He is counting on us to stand up for Him. “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33). His words do not apply only to the initial confession of faith, but also to our everyday encounters with the world. Solomon said that there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7). Surely now is a time for us to speak out! Say a good word for your Friend today!

No Friend to Speak for Her

by Bob Prichard

www.oxfordchurchofchrist.com