Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

USED AND ABUSED Cherub-faced Bobby Driscoll won the hearts of Americans in the Walt Disney movie Song of the South. His life ended in tragedy, however, when his body was found on March 30, 1968, in an abandoned tenement. Beside him were empty beer bottles. He had died from years of drug abuse. Shortly before his death at age thirty-one, Bobby said, "I was carried on a silver platter and dumped into a garbage can." He was bitter because those who liked him as a child actor cared nothing for him when he could no longer entertain them. Too often, men traffic in human flesh, seeking what people have or are rather than genuinely loving them. Paul noted that two men who traveled with him sincerely loved the people of Philippi. Of Timothy, Paul said: For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. Of Epaphroditus, Paul wrote ...he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. These men really cared for people. Most people in our world are reaching out for sincere friends. They need people who love them as they are, rather than for what they have or for their prominent positions. Believers must see people as people, being neither awed nor appalled at their veneer. Today, let us form lasting and loving friendships as did Timothy and Epaphroditus.