Friends

I used to wonder about my friends. Seriously, we're all a bit loopy. Okay, a lot loopy. But we're all the kind of highly intelligent, highly educated young adults that most people wish their children would grow up to be. Most of us play musical instruments, speak a second langauge, and pretty much all go/went to uni.

My church friends are similar - loopy, but of the incredibly smart kind.

It used to get me thinking. Because in the past, changes usually came about through groups of friends. The Reformers were frequently in contact with each other. The literary 'giants' of the lat 19th and early 20th century all hung out together. The revolutionaries of France and Russia all knew each other long before they actually took over their respective countries. Why is this?

It's like Ecclesiastes 4:10, If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Friends achieve things together. They encourage each other when the other is down, they help each other in their work. When one is successful he often will use his influence to help the others.

Friends help each other - but not always in the right way. I mentioned earlier the literary 'giants' of the late 19th and 20th century. Sure, they produced some amazing novels and other works of literature. But they didn't exaclty help each other in many other ways. Let's just say that the moral life of those novelists wasn't exactly up to par.

Who are your friends? And do they encourage you in the faith? Or do they drag you away from it?