A Real True Friend

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly; and there is a friend that sticketh closer  than a brother."  Proverbs 18:24 (KJV)

These words of King Solomon, the wisest man ever, contain two phrases and make two separate and distinct points.  The first is that in order to have friends, one must show himself to be friendly.  The second point is that there is a friend which will stick closer to you than a brother, and that friend is Jesus, The Christ. 

The Bible scholars agree that the second phrase refers to the friend that we have in Jesus, but they disagree on the interpretation of the first phrase.  "Friendliness wins friends and some friends are closer than others" is the thought of the King James Version and of the New King James Version.  While the American Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible present the thought that "a man who has many friends will come to ruin, and it is better to have one true friend than a host of friends who will lead you astray."  If we want friends, then we must be friendly.  However, we should be very careful regarding the people we choose as our friends.  How can two walk together unless they agree? (Amos 3:3)  A true friend is not a fair weather companion, they will be with us through feasts and famine, and through thick and thin. (Proverbs 17:17)  There is no friend like the friend that we have in Jesus.  He laid down His life for us. (John 15:13-14)  What a friend we have in Jesus.