God's Friend

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. ¹⁴  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

John 15:13-15

It is a common lament for people to feel they have no real friends.  This despairing feeling may arise when people do not rise to our expectations of what friends should be.  This overwhelming sense of friendlessness should never mark the life of a Christian, for Jesus has chosen us to be His friends.  Jesus called His disciples friends and demonstrated the reality of this through revelation from God.  He demonstrated His love through laying down His life on Calvary.  The big question is not if God is friendly towards us but are we truly His friends?  He has offered us unfailing friendship, but have we demonstrated we are His friends by obedience?

Abraham was a man scripture describes as a "friend of God."  His obedience of God's commands - not a profession of faith or theological system of belief - revealed him to be a friend of God.  James 2:21-23 said, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²  Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ²³  And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God."  Abraham showed genuine faith by his obedience to God.  Humans are good at being friendly to people we hardly know.  God has extended friendship to all, but if we will be His friend we must obey Him.  Those who are friends of God will receive additional revelations of God, for He speaks to His friends freely - even face to face.

Obedience to God's commands is a critical part of following Jesus as His disciple.  Matthew 28:18-20 reads, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."  Jesus did not merely command those He commissioned to teach others all things He said but to teach "them to observe all things that I have commanded you."  As disciples of Jesus we are to do more than aim at teaching information but to live obediently whilst exhorting people to live in obedience to Christ's commands.  Once we are born again through faith in Jesus, we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to understand and live according to God's will, to love one another as He loves us.

People are happy with revelation without relationship.  They seek advice - even paying for it - to have insight into what is their best course of action.  God, on the other hand, reveals Himself so we might have a growing relationship with Him.  He puts Himself willingly in the vulnerable position of being rejected, though He will never reject one who comes to Him in faith.  The truth is, if we don't obey God, we won't grow.  The old song begins, "What a friend we have in Jesus..." and we will only begin to give this relationship the appreciation and attention it warrants when we are His friends through obedience.  Would God count you among His friends?