“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. “- John 15:14
At the end of the school year, our seven-year-old
daughter told us that she has eight best friends; then proceeded to list each
one. “It’s easy” she says. Or more likely, the standard of friendship at
the age of eight is much lower than at thirty- eight or sixty-eight. Friends, true friends, have a way of becoming
scarce as you advance through life. Either
through death, betrayal, life choices, or a collection of many little things
piling up between you; you find you lose friends. Consequently, the value of a friend grows as
you grow older, and you truly appreciate a best friend.
Abraham was called a friend of God. Moses talked to God face to face “as a man
talketh to a friend.” These men and
select others were brought into a special fellowship with God that few enjoyed. A closeness and intimacy that cemented them
in the history books of time and foreshadowed a fellowship that was to come
through Christ. Christ would come walk
this earth and teach us, showing us the way of righteousness. Living and preaching the gospel; dying for us
and ushering in the New Testament church through the power of the Holy
Spirit. That we might have “life and
life more abundant.” In this new
dispensation he would call us who believe in Him “friends.” How remarkable a thing that is, that the Lord
of Lord and King of Kings would grant us a relationship status such as
that. To have a friend as He and be a
friend of God and Christ. To be brought
into such a close kinship with such a high and powerful one as Jesus Christ. His grace towards us extends to saving and justifying
but still further into friendship. What
a thing this is! To be able to open the
windows of your heart and pour out your deepest cares to your friend. To draw near to Christ when the way is dark,
and the road rough and ask your friend for guidance. To sit in fellowship, enjoying the Word of
God, and communing with your friend. To
have someone you can trust completely, lean on entirely, and turn too urgently. “What a friend we have in Jesus! What a privilege to carry everything to God
in prayer!” How careful we must be
not to put this friendship in jeopardy. When
you have a best friend, a close friend, a trusted friend, you would not lie, or
cheat, or wound that trusted relationship.
If you hope to stay friends. So,
it is the same with your friendship with Jesus, and much more so! For he is not just another peer, but the Lord
of glory! The Creator himself! When Christ calls us friends, and we Him, we enter
a covenant with Him. To love, serve,
sacrifice, and obey. This covenant
requires you to live separately. Separate
from the world and sin. It is not a
requirement of tyranny, but of prosperity.
Moreover, if we are in friendship with the world, God calls us
enemies. So, with whom do you want to be
associated with? I ask you to consider. Who can we confide in when things are tough? Who will give light, when times are
dark? Who will carry you and I across
the gulf of time, and into the halls of heaven?
Where can you find a friend like this?
Not in this beggarly world with all its lust and pride. Only in the confidence of Christ.
The more you align with this world and place
your trust in it, the more you push Christ away and make him your enemy. Inversely, the more you place your trust in Christ,
the more you push this world and sin away.
Thereby making Christ your friend.
Your true friend, your best friend.
