Good Friends

In English we have different words, such as friend and acquaintance, to express different depths of relationship. An acquaintance is someone whom we have met and have spent a little time with. We do not know them well, and the relationship may continue in that vein or it may deepen into friendship. Friendship indicates that we have developed a level of trust with a person usually due to having spent more time and effort in the relationship. Then we have good or best friends. These are those people whose company we relish. Often we have gone through hard times together. Our relationship is rock solid and we know that we can count on that person and they on us no matter what. As Proverbs 27:9 says "the sweetness of one's friend comes from his earnest counsel." These are the people, probably few in number, that we are willing to have speak into our lives even if we really don't like what they say. I was struck yesterday by the parallel between friendship and our relationship with God through His Word, the Bible. In my observation over four and a half decades most people who self identify as Christians have virtually no interaction with the Scriptures or are merely acquainted. A small minority progress to something analogous to friendship but it is rare to find someone to whom the verses and passages of the Bible are like old, good friends. For example, I first read Psalm 37:25 as a young man. It reads, "Once I was young and now I am old, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging bread." Now I am an old man and I have experienced the truth of that verse throughout my life. When I read in Hebrews 13:5 to "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you," I receive it as the visit of an old and dear friend. Or when i look at Psalm 31:7, which reads, "I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction and know the anguish of my soul," it is just as true and comforting today as it was in !991, the worst year of my life. May the God of the Bible put in you a hunger for this relationship. May the verses and passages of the Bible become good and precious friends to you.