A friend that sticketh closer than a brother

Earthly friendships are sweet, but they cool, they fail, they end at the grave. There is one Friend whose love is not so. He sticketh closer than a brother — closer in trouble, closer in temptation, closer in the dark hour when all other friends are absent.

This Friend is Christ. He has loved his own in such a way that no human heart has ever loved. He has loved them when they were unlovely. He has loved them when they wandered. He has loved them through their own coldness. Earthly friendships are made of clay; this friendship is made of eternity.

Is Christ thy friend? Then thou hast a friend always near. Tell him thy sorrows; he will not weary of hearing. Confess thy sins; he will not turn away. Lay thy burden at his feet; he will lift it. He sticketh closer than a brother — closer than mother, than wife, than child. He is enough.