Many of us know
God as our Creator, Savior, Judge, Father and so on. It is good to give him due
respect and reverence for all that He is. One of the greatest ways we can know
God is as a friend. This is an incredible privilege!
Recently in my
home, we’re learning about being a friend of God. My children and I are having
a lot of great discussions. Today, I’ll share a few thoughts about knowing God
as our friend.
Friendship with God brings us to the
even field. When we’re friend
with someone, we’re blind to their social, economic or spiritual status. We
relate to them just the way they are. We accept their good, bad and the ugly. Good friends don't keep track of each other’s
wrongs. Neither does God. It should give us great confidence to know that
God loves and accepts us just the way we are. He’s not expecting us to come up
to His “standards” before He can be our friend. We have to just accept His
friendship.
Friendship with God means we can talk
about anything. Friendship
between two people breaks down every barrier. We feel safe talking to friends
about our deepest secrets and desires. We don’t have to worry about being
misunderstood. We can have real conversations. When we’re friends with God, we
can talk to Him when life is easy, and we can talk to him when life is hard. He
understands our deepest emotions. He
feels for our sadness, despair, dreams and hopes. He can handle when we’re
upset and angry. We must also take time
to hear and understand God’s heart.
Friendship with God is a two way
street. Best friendships
are those that are based on giving and receiving. If we’re the ones always
asking, requesting and getting stuff from God then our friendship is warped. You cannot expect to have a healthy friendship
if you’re always on the receiving end. When we love God as a friend, we
take interest in the things that touches His heart. In the center of God’s heart is to bring the Good News to the poor. He
wants to heal the broken hearted. He wants to set the captives free. He wants
to bring liberty to the oppressed. Luke 4:18. When we get involved in these
activities, we’re strengthening our friendship with God.
Friendship with God requires that we
spend time with Him. When we value a
friendship, we make time for that relationship. We spend at least eight hours a
day because we value our job and business. What about our relationship with
God? How much effort do we make to connect with him throughout the day? I can’t
sit still in one place for too long. I don’t pray two hours every day. I pray
to God frequently. They are normally short interactions. I don’t always ask for
stuff from God. Most of my personal time with God is spent on expressing my
worship to Him. I’m thankful for our friendship. I verbalize my gratitude to God out loud all the time. You too can
strengthen your friendship with God by simply spending time with Him.
Friendship with God means we make
sacrifices and give gifts. How many times has a friend called us in the most inconvenient time,
and we still make ourselves available to him? If we’re to be close friends with
God, we have to make some sacrifices. We have to say no to our flesh. We have
to be proactive in doing what’s right in things that please God. Giving a gift
of our loyalty to God will enhance our friendship. When we trust God in the
darkest situation, our friendship is concrete. Let’s not just ask what God can do for us; let’s also focus on what we
can do for Him.
It is an awesome privilege
to be a friend of God. Let’s not take our friendship for granted. Let’s invest
in the most important friendships of our lives by reaching out to God. His
friendship is always motivated by love. He accepts us just the way we are but
He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Let’s be better friends with
God. He calls us friend!
“I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't
confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything
the Father told me” (John 15:15 NLT).
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