THINK TOGETHER.
Who are your closest friends?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 27:10. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.
Our last few proverbs have been all about friendship. Good friends tell you the truth in love, even when it hurts. Good friends listen and encourage. They counsel us, giving us good advice that points us to Jesus.
In Proverbs, the words friend and neighbor are usually connected. Our neighbors should be our friends. So when Solomon says better is a neighbor who is near, he means a friend. A close by friend is better than a far away brother (or sister).
Solomon is telling his children that in times of trouble they shouldn’t go looking far away to a family member when they have neighbors that are true friends close by. Solomon might only be thinking about distance, how far away the brother is compared to the neighbor, but likely he is also thinking about how close you are relationally to your family compared to your neighbor or friend.
As Christians we might even be closer (not in distance but in love) to our Christian friends than we are to our family member, especially if they are not Christians. One time, Jesus’ mom and brothers and sisters came to take him home because they thought he was acting crazy, claiming to be God. When someone told Jesus that his mother and brothers were there he replied by saying “Who are my mother and brothers?” And then he looked at his disciples (his friends) and said “You are my family.”
For Jesus, his close friends were better than his far away family. Eventually, Jesus’ whole family would also come to trust in him and serve him too. Yay!
What about you? Are your closest friends Christians? Is your best friend Jesus? He is both your friend and your brother that you should always go to first.
Because of Jesus we always have a friend and brother in our heart.
With Jesus we can learn to trust our Christian friends as if they were family.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Share with your children about close Christian friends that you have had over the years (do you have any old photos?). How did they friendship encourage you?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, I want you to be my best friend so that I can be a good friend like you. Help me to be a friend that is always ready to help. Amen.
TLICfamily 