Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16

Matthew Henry (1662-1714) is best known for his Exposition of the Old and New Testaments. His biographer tells of how he guarded his time, and the older he got, the more careful he was to redeem Time. And when he wasted time, he complained about it.

Though he appreciated his friends, still often he emerged from an evening of entertainment regretting the time, with the moan of David on his lips, "O that I had wings like a dove, for then I would fly away and be at rest."

Once when with company he had frittered away a whole day to little obvious advantage, he wrote about it that night with much concern...

"I look upon this as a lost Day. Lord, forgive my trifling. I would rather preach Twice every day in the Week, than spend another Day so unprofitably."

William Wilberforce complained about "the temptations of the table," and bemoaned the endless stream of dinner parties, filled with vain and useless conversation.

"They disqualify me for every useful purpose in life, waste my time, impair my health, and fill my mind with thoughts of resistance before and self-condemnation afterward."

Thomas A'Kempis stated "as oft as I have been among men, I returned home less a man than I was before."

Henry Martyn, the brilliant missionary to India in the 1800's, identified the source of his spritual lethargy. "I no longer hesitate to ascribe my stupor and formality to its right cause - unwatchfulness in worldly company."

"I thought that any temptation arising from the society of the people of the world, at least of such as we have had, was not worthy of notice; but I find myself mistaken."

"The frequent occasions of being among them of late, have proved a snare to my corrupt heart. Instead of returning with a more elastic spring to severe duties, as I expected, my heart wants more idleness, more dissipation."

"David Brainerd in the wilderness - what a contrast to Henry Martyn! But, God be thanked, that a start now and then interrupts the slumber. I hope to be up and about my Master's business, to cast off the works of darkness and to be spiritually-minded, which alone is life and peace."

"But what a dangerous country it is that we are in; hot weather or cold, all is softness and luxury; all a conspiracy to lull us to sleep in the lap of pleasure."

"While we pass over this enchanted ground, call, brother (Rev. D. Corrie) whenever you can and ask, "Is all well?" We are as shepherds keeping watch over our flocks by night; if we fall asleed, what is to become of them!"

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but here is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

The prophet Jeremiah lived in difficult times, when the political waters were constantly swirling, and speaking the truth was lifethreatening. In the twenty-five years or so that he tirelessly gave out the words of God to a contentious people, three friends emerged at key times to show true loyalty, even when it could cost them dearly.

Early on, when King Jehoiakim reigned, Jeremiah was narrowly escaped with his life, thanks to Ahikam ben Shaphan, who came to his rescue. And for years Jeremiah had a loyal secretary named Baruch, who refused to abandon him.

And when Jeremiah was lowered into the mud of a well and left to languish and die, Ebed-Melech went to King Zedekiah and begged for permission to rescue Jeremiah. And he was successful.

Eugene Peterson in RUN WITH THE HORSES:

"Not everyone in Jerusalem that year was just "doing his job." Not all were sailing under the winds of popular opinion. There were a few people for whom a friend was more significant than a calculated advantage, for whom a friend meant a commitment and was worth a risk."

"The simple fact that he had friends says something essential about Jeremiah:he needed friends. He was  well-developed in his interior life. It was impossible to deter him from his course by enmity or by flattery."

"He was habituated to solitude. But he needed friends. No one who is whole is self-sufficient. The whole life, the complete life, cannot be lived with haughty independence. Our goal cannot be to not need anyone."

"One of the evidences of Jeremiah's wholeness was his capacity to receive friendship, to let others help him, to be accessible to mercy. It is easier to extend friendship to others than to receive it ourselves."

"In giving friendship we share strength, but in receiving it we show weakness. But well-developed persons are never garrisoned behind dogmas or projects, but rather they are alive to a wide spectrum of relationships."

Jesus, in his hour of agony in the garden, took Peter, James and John to be with him. They were his friends, his companions. Yes, they failed that test, but undoubtedly learned the lesson well, that we need each other in trials, to hold each other up, to sustain each other through the swells of life.