Proverbs 18:24

 A month or so ago I was in prayer for the men of my fellowship one morning when Proverbs 18:24 came to my spirit:

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly; and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother”

When I was growing up (& going through growing pains, you know the awkward social-defining/refining years) my dad used to quote this to me all the time, “You've got to be friendly if you want friends!” & yes, there's truth in that. As I was praying this particular morning though, this verse hit me in a strange way & when a verse hits me like that, there's a reason, so I broke it down into the Hebrew.

Proverbs 18:24

“A man ('îš = champion) that hath friends (rēaʿ = companion[s]) must shew himself friendly (rāʿaʿ = to be broken): and there is a friend (āhaḇ = human love for another, includes family) that sticketh closer (dāḇēq = adhering to) than a brother (āḥ = kinsman, same tribe).”

The word 'îš is interesting, it has several meanings but the first & main meeting is man/male (in contrast to a woman/female) then [in a lesser sense] husband, human being, servant, mankind, champion, great man, whosoever…

A servant/husband/champion/great man that has companions must first be broken… as men, we're usually taught to be strong, be stoic, be unemotional, be a fortress, be a rock; that's what's expected of us but to be a champion, to be a truly great man, is to be a broken one.

A couple of my favorite verses/scenes in the Bible are these two: Jesus weeping over Jerusalem & Jesus in the Garden. Jesus, our perfect role model, our King, our Champion, weeping… broken… He took the walls down around His life, He let people in, He forged both a new meaning of community & a new meaning of family. I believe it can argued that Jesus was living out Proverbs 18:24 = a great man… broken… love that adheres…

My prayer for the men in my fellowship is for them to be truly broken so they can be truly great.