Too often in the hustle and bustle of life we tend to have the mindset, “out with the old, in with the new.” If our washing machine or television breaks, we throw it away and get a new one. If our job is not paying us as much money as we’d like, we quit. If our marriage goes awry, we get a divorce and remarry. And all too often we let our good friends go simply because we fall out of touch. We figure, “I can just make new friends.” This is not God’s will. We need to be slow in choosing a friend, and slower in changing.
"Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not" (Pro 27:10)
A good Christian friend can build us up in the faith, share mutual edification, pray for us, give us advice, and serve the Lord with us. It is the Lord’s will that we make a few close friends, and stick with them. Of course our closest friends should be other believers (2 Cor 6:14). In addition to this, you don’t need to attempt to make every person you know your best friend. It’s better to concentrate on keeping up a few good relationships and have a few close friends than many friends, all of which are not very close. This is exactly what the bible teaches:
"A man of many friends will come to ruin but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." (Pro 18:24)
Once God has granted you those blessed close companions, keep them! Perhaps the best example of a good friend in all of scripture is Jonathan (Saul’s son). Even after all of the turmoil that took place between Saul and David, Jonathan still was loyal to David. Of all the people in the world, the one who had the most reason to be jealous of David was Jonathan, but there was not even one ounce of envy found in him. He remained a good friend to David even when his father wanted to kill him. "And he said to him, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. And you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. And my father Saul knows that also." (1Sa 23:17). David was so torn when Jonathan died that he said of him "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant wast thou unto me; Thy love to me was wonderful, passing women's love" (2Sa 1:26). This is a great example of true friendship.
Are you a friend to anybody like Jonathan was to David? Can you say that you’re loyal and that you love your close friends? Do you build them up in the Lord and pray for them? Do you call them on the phone? Do go out of your way to get together with them after work? Once you have a few close friends, don’t just let them fall out of contact when your lives get busy. Put the effort in to keep the friendship going. Cherish their friendship and remember the mutual edification in the Lord that you have shared with these ones in the past. Would you not want to continue that? Letting good friends fall out of touch is like wearing an old, worn out pair of pants and carrying around your wedding ring in one of the pockets. After awhile this priceless piece of jewelry which means so much to you is going to fall through one of the holes and you’ll lose it simply because you were careless with it. Only then will you realize what you’ve lost.
“Friends are like good health; you don't realize what a gift they are until you lose them.”