A Wise Proverb

“Do not leave your own companion or the companion of your father, and do not enter the house of your own brother on the day of your disaster. Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far away.”​—Prov. 27:10.

This Biblical proverb highlights the importance of having a true friend and being one, especially in time of need. First, it deals with being such a friend. In a day of calamity or disaster, you should not “leave” or desert those who have been your friends, or your family’s friends. You should not be just a “fair-weather friend,” one who makes himself absent when he is really needed. Consider, then, the reverse. At a time of need, rather than having to travel a long way to the house of your fleshly brother to see if he might help, it is better to have a friend nearby who is ready, yes, willing to aid you. As another proverb states it: “There exists a friend sticking closer than a brother.”​—Prov. 18:24.