"A man of many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24).

This nugget of wisdom from the Book of Proverbs reminds us that friendships can be a curse or a blessing. They can lead to our downfall or our salvation. When road tested for endurance they can prove to be perilously superficial or powerfully significant. They can spur us on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24) or to moral and spiritual corruption (1Corinthians 15:33).

Some people have more friendships than they need. They acquire friends as collectibles, trying to bolster their undernourished ego with the thought that they are 'well-liked'. The majority of their friendships prove to be painfully shallow when any life-crisis emerges. Popularity does not heal the suffering self.... "But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Last week in a Memorial Service I addressed four young men who lost their 17 year old brother in a tragic car accident. Their love, respect and loyalty to their brother was obvious. The shocking loss left them torn apart with grief. They could not be with their brother now, nor he with them ... "But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

While David and Jonathan were pledged as friends in a God-centered covenant of loyalty, David was encouraged to pursue his life course with a godly passion. When they parted, David eventually gave in to betraying passions that cost him the kingdom. Their friendship is one of the greatest recorded in the Bible. "But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Jesus said to his disciples, "Our friend, Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I go that I might awaken him out of sleep." (Sleep is an expression for the death of the faithful.) Even the greatest friendships suffer the separation of death. But Jesus is able to go to the grave of His friends and call them into Life. He never leaves you or forsakes you (Hebrews 13:5).

"You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:14). What is His command? To love others with the love He has loved you; to care enough about people to introduce them to His friendship. His command is that we love Him, trust Him, and obey Him; that we cultivate our friendship. He has called us to intimacy with God: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15).

Friendship is the by-product of committing your life to the purpose of knowing God and making Him known. Friends of God will show themselves friendly and make friendships that will count for eternity.