“Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.” (Proverbs 27:10, ESV)

The Proverbs were written in a bygone era, a time many millennia before our modern age. Our social advancements and media, our technologies, were beyond any of their dreams. But one tendency of humanity today is one they struggled with back then: the temptation to cultivate friendships with those far from us while neglecting those who are next to us. But "Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away" (Proverbs 27:10).

Perhaps we could put this in today's terminology: Better is a real, live, in-the-flesh friend than someone far away, online, and almost entirely digital to you. Though the online person might be a perfect match for you, someone who gets you better than everyone in your town, the person near you is better for you.

Perhaps you have found yourself engaged in friendships online with people who are not near to you physically during your day of calamity. Let me encourage you to cultivate friendships that are close in proximity. I'm not saying you've got to give up people who are far away but don't spend all your time investing in relationships on the other side of the country or the other side of the world, to the neglect of the person, the believer, the friend, right next door to you. Cultivate those friendships because those will be the friendships that help you through, as the Proverb says, the day of adversity.