Friends through Thick and Thin

By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.
05/08/2023

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)

Sometimes it can be a challenge for two-year-olds to form the words they are trying to say. They hear and understand a lot more than we think, but their oral communication skills are still being developed. Case in point, when my granddaughter was about two years old, she was headed to bed one night when her mom told her to tell everyone goodnight. She confidently addressed the room and said, “Goodnight buddyone!”

We all laughed, which of course only encouraged her. Buddyone soon became a Hixson colloquialism for the word everyone. At family gatherings someone will inevitably say to the group, “How is buddyone doing?” Or “Would buddyone like to play a game?” We even label the family group chat on our cell phones, Buddyone.

When you think about it, buddyone is not a bad substitute for everyone. There is something about the word buddy that implies closeness, camaraderie, and loyalty. We may have many friends, but most of us have only a few buddies, and the more chaotic the world gets the more valuable those buddies become.

The biblical concept of friendship is not like the world’s perspective on friendship. The world defines friendship in terms of shared experiences, common settings, and mutual likes and dislikes. For the Christian, however, friendship has more to do with unconditional love, loyalty, and commitment. Worldly friends come and go; biblical friends, buddies, are with you through thick and thin.

The phrase “through thick and thin” is one of the oldest idioms in the English language, dating back to the 10th century.  For much of England's history, the island was largely wooded. During this time, people would take well-worn paths and roads to their destinations, but sometimes they would go off the path to take shortcuts across the countryside “through thicket and thin wood.” Although they saved time, such cutoffs were not easy and posed many dangers and challenges. “Thicket and thin wood” eventually became truncated to “thick and thin,” and the phrase is used to this day to describe pressing on through any obstacle or sticking with something to the very end.

That is what buddies do. They walk with you through the storm. Buddies are faithful friends. They “love at all times” (Proverbs 17:17). The Bible says, “Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel” (Proverbs 27:9). “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” and “as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:6, 17). In times like these, when deception is intensifying and evil is rampant, it is better to have true friends nearby than relatives far away (Proverbs 27:10).

As the Great Satanic Reset is rolled out, and long-cherished values are slipping away; as traditional paradigms are disappearing, and morality is declining, everyone needs a buddyone. First and foremost, you need a relationship with the “friend that sticks closer than a brother,” Jesus Christ (Proverbs 18:24). He died and rose again to save you from the penalty of sin. Have you trusted in Him, and Him, alone as your Savior?

If you already have a relationship with Jesus through faith, let me encourage you to find other believers, cherished buddies, who will walk through the thicket and thin woods of life with you, no matter what the cost. Resist the urge to isolate yourself (Proverbs 18:1). It is much easier to face this rapidly changing world with a buddy.