Welcome to another word of encouragement from the Our Daily Bread Devotional.

Dave Brannon wrote today's reading, and he titled it, Legacy of Friends.

I met him in the 1970s when I was a high school English teacher and basketball coach,

and he was a tall, gangly freshman.

Soon he was on my basketball team and in my classes, and a friendship was formed.

This same friend, who had served with me as a fellow editor for many years,

stood before me at my retirement party, and shared about the legacy

of our longstanding friendship. What is it about friends connected by the love of God that encourages

us and brings us closer to Jesus? The writer of Proverbs understood that friendship has two

encouraging components. First, true friends give

valuable advice, even if it's not easy to give or take. Wounds from a friend can be trusted,

the writer explains. Second, a friend who is nearby and accessible is important in times of crisis.

Better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

It's not good for us to fly solo in life.

As Solomon noted in Ecclesiastes 4, two people are better off than one,

for they can help each other succeed.

In life, we need to have friends, and we need to be friends. May God help us love one another with brotherly affection,

and carry each other's burdens, becoming the kind of friend that can encourage others,

and draw them closer to the love of Jesus.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading comes to us from the Old Testament

book of Proverbs, Chapter 27, verses 6 through 10.

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

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