Proverbs 18:24 ESV A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 27:17 ESV Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
Many people in the world today enjoy social media. I am not one of them, so I guess I am old school. I do text though! My understanding is you want as many friends as possible on Facebook. I am also told you want people to like you by checking a box that says, “like”. I have heard of people who are not famous having thousands of friends on Facebook. That must give those people a great feeling to be liked that much.
There are FB friends and there are your in-person friends that you talk to from time to time or see at church or Walmart. You know them by name, but you have never been to supper at their house or spent a weekend away with them and their family. These friends will always tell you what you want to hear, “ you look nice today”, “ I was thinking about you the other day” ..etc.
Then there are your true friends. These are the ones you have shared meals with in their homes. You have spent more time with them than other friends. These friends are actually closer to you than your own brother and sisters. They know quite a bit about you because you have opened up to them about life from time to time. You have shared things with them you would not share with just anyone. You trust them because they have earned your trust. These friends will sometimes tell you what you want to hear but most of the time will tell you things you “need” to hear.
These things you “need” to hear may just be God speaking to you through a trusted close friend. My trusted close friend Ed Weaver told me one day, “Jim, you need to search God’s word about how you are acting.” He did this in a very gentle simple conversation by my car door. “Jim, you are becoming a pot stirrer and a troublemaker.” I was losing my witness at work by my actions and my words. I was not cussing or anything like that, but I was stirring up things because I was unhappy with the way things were being done at work.
Ed and I are good friends and that is the kind of friend I want and need in my life. If I am doing something I should not be doing, I want my closest friends to point that out. Of course, I don’t like hearing it, but I am the kind of guy that thinks, “that just came from God.” I can recognize when the Holy Spirit is speaking to me.
My encouragement to you is to contact that close friend today and thank them for being a part of your life and to hold you accountable every day. Then also thank Jesus for putting that person in your life too. BTW the closest personal friend you will ever have is Jesus and He knows you better than you know yourself.
Jim Everett
