Proverbs 27:9-10 Friendship

⁹ Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
    and the pleasantness of a friend
    springs from their heartfelt advice.

¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
    and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you—
    better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

Today's verses made me think back to other studies about friends . . . what makes us say that someone is our "best friend"? Are our best friends the ones that hang out with us sometimes and enjoy a laugh or two? Are the best buddies the ones that always tell us positive things -- and avoid telling us the hard things, the real things that we need to hear?

Uh, in a word, no!

Like Solomon says above, the best friends are the ones that give us "heartfelt" advice . . . the ones that are so passionately concerned about our welfare that they will take their courage in their hands and tell us what we need to hear --- even when that hurts. A true friend is one that trusts us, and that we trust in return.

Verse 10 is an admonition to do two things: be there for our friends when they need us, and depend on those same friends when we need them. We must do the things that we have studied so far --- show wisdom, give wise counsel, tell the truth, be patient, be forgiving --- whew! That's quite a list!

Luckily we have the best example possible, in order to be this kind of friend: our Savior, Jesus Christ.

He answers when we call:

Psalm 145:18  The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.

He is patient with us:

Psalm 86:15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

He loves us so very much:

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He wants only the best for us:

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

He is our best friend:

Proverbs 18:24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

It may seem to be a "tall order" but we can be the friends that our Christian brothers and sisters need. We can extend friendship to those who don't yet know Christ, as well, and in so doing, be an awesome witness to the faith that we hope they will accept.
Let's be friends, shall we?