A Man that Has Friends - Proverbs 18:24

In the book of Proverbs Solomon said, “the poor uses entreaties; but the rich answers roughly”, and in chapter eighteen and verse twenty-four of Proverbs Solomon said, “a man that has friends mush show himself friendly” where we read,

A man that has friends must show himself friendly:

and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

The verse begins, “A man that has friends must show himself friendly:” Solomon began with the words, “a man” or “a person whether male or female” “that has friends” which means “who possesses and owns intimate companions, fellows and fellow-citizens” “must show himself friendly” or “incurs a need or obligation for their own self to be an intimate companion”. Solomon said the person who possesses many intimate companions has a need to continue demonstrating their “friendliness” or they will come to ruin.

The verse goes on to say, “and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” Solomon continued with the words, “and there is a friend” or “and there exists an intimate companion, fellow or fellow-citizen” “that sticks closer” which means “who clings, adheres and joins together to a greater degree” “than a brother” or “compared to a male sibling”. Solomon said there exists an intimate companion who clings to us to an even greater degree than a male sibling.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Solomon that a person who has many “friends” possesses and obligation to be intimate with them otherwise the relationship will lead to ruin, however, there is one person who clings to us greater than the affection of a male sibling. The idea is that God loves us more than anyone, and when we yield our lives to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and show Himself to be the “closest friend” we shall ever know. (See John 15:15)

Next time we begin a new chapter and see Solomon say, “better is the poor that walks in his integrity”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".