Daily Devotional Details

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Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. Proverbs 18:1

It is possible to have a wide circle of acquaintances, but no real friends. The higher your profile, and the faster your life, the harder it is to make deep and lasting friendships. You can end up with many acquaintances, but few real friends. You can find yourself being lonely in a crowd.

The quality of your friends is more important than their quantity. So, focus on depth rather than breadth. The important question is not how many friends you have, but how deep your friendships are.

Perhaps the place where the word “friends” is most commonly used these days is in connection with Facebook. How many friends do you have on Facebook? The average number is about 340. That’s a lot of friends!

The important thing to remember here is that there are different levels of friendship. You see this in the life of our Lord Jesus. He ministers to the crowd. Then there is a group of 70 who are sent out (Luke 10:1). Then there are the twelve. Then there are the three—Peter, James, and John—the ones who are closest to Jesus.

These are all like expanding circles around Jesus. Jesus gives the closest access to Peter, James, and John. They are there when Jairus’s daughter is raised to life. They see the glory of Jesus at the Transfiguration. They are invited to watch and pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.

You need these different circles of relationship in your life. If you have 340 friends on Facebook, who are the seventy? Who are the 12? Who are the 3? It is possible to have many acquaintances but no real friends.

Do you have a “best friend” or two? Do you have an inner circle of close friends who you can share your deepest feelings with? Maybe you aren’t comfortable opening up to a friend. But if Jesus did this, so can you.