Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

When you hear the lyric, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” most of us can hear the familiar Beatles’ tune in our heads. In their own way, they reminded us of the importance of meaningful friendships.

How many good friends do you have? I mean real friends who are more than superficial acquaintances.

Several years ago, I had lunch with an old friend who has been purposely directing his life toward Christ over the last several years. I have taken notice of his growth. He is involved in a small group and leads a prayer group made up of people from his workplace in Louisville. He faith is growing deeper and deeper even during a period of time where he lost his wife of 27 years to cancer earlier this year.

We text fairly often and when we do see each other, there is little need for small talk among friends. We’ve always had a lot in common, but since he began following Christ our conversations have the opportunity to beyond the some of the superficial interests. We talked openly about what is going right and the challenges we each are facing today.

We human beings have a great capacity to find the time for the things we value. So, when we say we don’t have time for other things…, but life has a way of bringing true priorities into focus if we are listening. The brief passage above encourages us to invest in friendships.