Engraved on a tombstone were words that touched the heart of author Max Lucado. The epitaph did not give the dates of her birth or death. It included only her name, the names of her two husbands, and this melancholy mini-biography:

Sleeps, but rests not.
Loved, but was loved not.
Tried to please, but pleased not.
Died as she lived--alone.

Those words can be applied to the lives of unhappy multitudes of people who feel lonely and unloved. They may try to reach out and make friends, but their best efforts often prove futile.

The gospel has a message for any of us who, like that woman, feel we belong to that frustrated legion of the lonely and unloved. It's the good news about the Friend who cared enough to die as our substitute on the cross. It's about the Friend who loves each of us with a love that can never be alienated, who sticks closer than a brother, and who understands us completely.

That Friend is Jesus Christ. When in faith we reach out and grasp His downstretched, nail-pierced hand, we are gripped by the love that will never let us go.

Have you asked Jesus to be your Friend?  — Vernon C. Grounds