Throughout your life you will make a wide array of friends. Some could become lifelong companions. Others may eventually let you down. Still others may simply move away and lose touch. Friends will pass in and out of your life throughout your earthly pilgrimage.
Paul met many people over the course of his adult life. Some, like Luke and Timothy, had become life-long, reliable friends. Others, like Demas, eventually disappointed Paul. People like Mark, had once been a disappointment but, over time, had grown close. Some friends such as Cresens, Timothy and Tychicus had been compelled to leave Paul for a time to carry out God’s assignments. These were associates whose pathways at times crossed that of Paul’s and at other times drew them apart.
But there was one friend who seems to have remained close to Paul, regardless of the circumstance. It was his trusted companion Luke. Luke was a physician. Perhaps the embattled and beaten apostle required constant medical attention. Luke may not have been the preacher or teacher that Silas and Timothy were, and so he may not have been dispatched to churches as were Paul’s other colleagues. But it may be that God knew that even Paul needed at least one friend who was always close at hand. When everyone else had gone, for good reasons or bad, Luke still remained. What a joy to know you have someone to whom you can turn when you are in need. How encouraging, to be assured that, even if everyone else should forsake you, one friend will remain loyal. Luke was that friend in Paul’s life. Who is it in yours?