Old Friends

 

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. These were the words to a song we used to sing in Girl Scouts when I was young.

This past week I had three occasions to get together with some old friends. The first were really old friends. They were three women I have been close to from early elementary school.  On Saturday night with my husband we had a small reunion with friends from a small group we were part of for several years. Then, on Monday I met an old college roommate for lunch.

The great thing about old friends is that you don’t have to start over with them. They already know the basics of your life. They know of past pain and rejoicing. They can read your face and hear your emotion without explanation. It’s very comfortable to be with them.

I hadn’t realized how much I valued those comfortable relationships until I was reflecting on my week and rejoicing in how refreshed I felt. Comfortable is good. It is a high priority in our marriage and I now see that we have that with many friends as well. It really is refreshing!

In his letter to the Romans Paul asked for their prayers for his protection and that his service might be pleasing to the saints so that he could finally come to them and be refreshed in their company (Romans 15:30-32). In 1 Corinthians 16 Paul wrote this:

“I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men.” (1Co 16:17-18) Then in 2 Corinthians 7 Paul rejoiced at the joy of Titus as he recognized how the Corinthians’ fellowship had refreshed him.

It seems obvious that part of God’s plan for His people is that we would have friends, we would involve ourselves with each other in fellowship for our own good. It is refreshing to be engaged in conversation and fellowship with others that we know and love. This all seems to be enhanced when we sit around a table together and enjoy a meal.

In reporting on the early church in the book of Acts Luke says, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers”. (Acts 2:42). Teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Though our teaching was not formal on Saturday I left with new insights into the scriptures because as we discussed our families, politics, economics, and the Church it always came back to a Biblical discussion. We had fellowship, ate, and prayed before we broke up for the evening.

As I was thinking about all this I wondered what God’s word had to say about friends and friendship. These verses are all from the Proverbs and they certainly endorse close friendships:

Proverbs 17:17, A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18:24, A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 27:6, Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Proverbs 27:9, Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

God even gives us warnings about the kind of people we should not befriend. Proverbs 22:24-25, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.”

As we go about our lives new friends are good. But keep the old, comfortable ones, they can be refreshing in a world that seems stale and harsh. (Bible) Teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers, if you have friends that include all these things in your time together, stick closer to them than to a brother!