My friend and I were traveling together, and she seemed a bit frazzled.
When we got to the airport, she forgot to have her identification readily
available and couldn’t find her reservation confirmation number. The ticket
agent waited patiently, smiled, and then helped her at the “self” check-in.
After receiving her ticket, she asked, “Where do we go next?” The agent smiled
again, pointed at me, and said to him, “Stay close to your friend.”
That can be good advice for all of us when our lives get frazzled—stay
close to your friends. Although Jesus is our best friend, we also need
relationships with fellow believers to help us survive in this life.
In his first epistle, Peter was writing to believers who needed one
another because they were suffering for their faith. In a few short sentences
in chapter 4, Peter mentioned the need to receive and give “fervent love,”
prayer, and hospitality (vv.7-9). He also included the need for believers to
use their spiritual gifts to minister to one another (v.10). In other passages,
we’re encouraged to comfort each other with the comfort we’ve been given by God
(2 Cor. 1:3-4)
and to build each other up in love (1 Thess. 5:11).
Staying close to godly friends helps us to stay close to God.
When life gets difficult, staying close to our friends will help us to get through. (RBC)
